Angel Of The Sand
by Cap'n Green
Summary: Gaara and Sakura met first in Sunagakure, where Gaara made his first ever friend. Now when Sakura needs him most, will he come to her as her Angel of Sand? Rated T for now... Gaara X Sakura Alternate Reality.
1. Ten Years Ago

Angel Of The Sand

A Naruto Fan Fiction Story By: Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga...no matter how much I wish I did.

(Ten Years Ago)

Gaara: 7 Years Old

Sakura: 6 1/2 Years Old

The girl with the straight pink hair watched the boy on the playground crying. She blinked her large emerald eyes once slowly, wondering what was the matter. The boy with the red hair was crying, although it looked like he was trying not to. He had dark circles around his jade eyes that made his eyes look bigger than they were. _'Why isn't his makeup smearing?' _the seven-year old Haruno Sakura wondered absently.

The red-haired boy picked one arm up, the one that wasn't holding his bunny, and wiped away at the tears on the same side of his face the arm was on on his body. He raised his head, drying his eyes and started watching the kids at the park all play. He kicked with his feet so he swung a little bit, but other than that didn't move much. He turned his eyes to the pink-haired girl watching him, trying to hide from behind a mailbox. He lowered his head, still staring at her.

Sakura noticed him staring, and with a peep scurried behind the mailbox so she was totally hidden. Why did he look so sad? Being the happy person Sakura usually was, she didn't know if she could let him stay that way. It just didn't look right, to see the boy crying. There was one thing that looked a little off. Planks of wood circled the whole playground, keeping a certain amount of sand in. What didn't look right was the fact that there was more sand pooled around the boy than in any other area.

Sakura shrugged her shoulders, before taking a deep breath. Her mother had always told her that a friend in need was a friend indeed, and as far as she was concerned she was friends with everybody, even those she didn't know. Sakura walked out into the playground, covering half the distance easily, putting on a brave front, but the closer she got, the more Sakura realized she was terrified. Hadn't some of the villagers said there was something wrong with him? No matter, he was hurt and Sakura wanted to make it better.

Gaara looked on as the pink-haired girl came about halfway between him and the mailbox. She stopped there, hesitating before she continued. Gaara raised his head, looking at her, hugging his bunny close to him for comfort, sure that she would throw a stone or something at him. He closed his eyes and buried his face in the top of the nearly stuffing-less bunny, waiting for the impact.

Sakura watched him bury his face in the bunny as if he was afraid of something. _'What a chicken._' Sakura thought to her self, before walking to him, before stopping right before him and planting her hands on her hips.

"You." Sakura said loudly and boldly, which caused most of the other children to stop and stare as she spoke with the Jinchuriki.

"M-me?" Gaara asked fearfully, raising his head slightly to look at Sakura.

"Yes. You. Why are you crying?" Sakura demanded, looking proud despite the fact she was wearing a red tank-top and blue-jean shorts with an explorer's cap atop her head.

"B-because..." Gaara stammered, desperately trying to think of something, but unable to.

"Because what?" Sakura demanded again. Because of the position she was with the sun, Gaara had to squint his eyes looking at her.

"If you're gonna make fun of me just go and leave me alone." Gaara said, his voice as hollow as most of the emotions he felt.

Sakura's stern look faltered. Make fun of him? What for? She just wanted to know what was wrong. By now all of the kids in the park had stopped playing and were watching. Sakura walked over and sat down on the swing next to Gaara. She shivered a little when the sand beneath his feet moved a little as if the wind had blown it, before settling down again.

"Why would I make fun of you?" Sakura asked, softer this time.

Gaara looked at Sakura as if she had just asked if their current location were hot.

"You mean, you don't know?" Gaara asked, hopeful at the chance to make a friend. Well, other than Yashamaru. But that was his Uncle, so he didn't count.

"Know what?" Sakura asked cluelessly.

"I..*sniff*...have a monster inside of me...it kills people..." Gaara said, his eyes starting to water up again, knowing Sakura would be disgusted and leave, or even make fun of him with the rest of the kids.

"Well, if it's the monster inside of you that kills people, why are YOU suffering for it?" Sakura asked, still not catching on.

"Because they think I'm the one that does it."

"That's stupid. You said everybody knows it's inside of you, right? Well then, I don't get why they think it would be you doing it." Sakura said, crossing her arms roughly.

"Because sometimes it controls me and makes me do it." Gaara said quietly, before a look of realization came upon Sakura's face.

"Ohh...so then why don't they take it out?" Sakura asked softly.

"Because it would kill me."

"Oh...I'm sorry..."

"What are you sorry for? I'm the one that kills people..."

"I don't know. I just felt like I needed to say sorry. " Sakura said, getting frustrated.

"Oh..." was all Gaara said, before he kicked the sand.

"So why don't you go play with anyone?" Sakura asked curiously, not understanding why the Shukaku would impair him socially.

"Because they all hate me for having the monster. I don't have any friends..." Gaara said, his eyes threatening to spill over.

"Well, I'll be your friend. My name's Haruno Sakura." Sakura said, before Gaara looked up, genuine happiness in his eyes.

"My name's Sabaku no Gaara." He said, holding out his hand for a handshake, the way his father had taught him, when he wasn't abusing him verbally and physically, anyway.

Instead of shaking his hand, Sakura reached over and gave him a hug. Gaara froze, afraid the sand would kill her. When it didn't, he slowly put his arms around her, and rested his forehead on her back. He smiled, before he heard someone yelling,

"Hey! Look! Forehead is hugging the monster!" One little kid yelled, before they all started laughing. Gaara pulled away and looked at Sakura. Her forehead wasn't that big. But she looked as if she were about to cry, as she looked down into her lap.

Gaara stood up angrily, which made all of the kids take an involuntary step back.

"She does NOT have a big forehead. And I don't want you guys making fun of her again! Ever!" Gaara yelled, before a small wave of sand pushed forward, knocking all of the kids onto their bottoms, which helped emphasize his point. The kids all ran away in fear, leaving Gaara and Sakura alone.

Gaara turned to Sakura, and walked back.

"They're jerks. You don't have a big forehead." He said, before she looked up at him with tear-stained eyes.

"Thank you." She said, before she heard her name being called.

"Sakura Haruno! Where did you go? It's time for dinner! I made salted ice cream!" A female voice shouted out, alerting Sakura and Gaara to the presence of her mother.

"Coming Mommy!" She yelled back, before turning to Gaara.

"Umm, thank you for defending me from those bullies." Sakura said, blushing.

"No problem." Gaara said, giving a weak smile. His face went into that of a shocked one when Sakura leaned over, kissed him on the cheek, and said bye.

"Bye..." Gaara muttered numbly, before putting his hand over his cheek.

Before she was out of hearing range, Sakura turned around and yelled,

"I'll be back next year on this very day! I live in Konoha! Come see me sometime!" She shouted, before running off to her mother.

Gaara smiled, before his face turned grim. It was getting late, and he had to go home. He started trudging off, to Kazekage Tower.

**Well, here's the first chapter ladies and gents. If anybody can guess what two FF Author's the salted ice cream idea came from, then I'll give them...free invisible stuff! Yay! I'll even give you a hunt, they co-wrote a story together...which evolved into basically a trilogy, having...what was it, four or five sequels? I don't know, anyways, R&R and get back to me with what you think. I will try to update once every day, maybe more than that if I can, so stay tuned, and we'll be back to fun time with the Cap'n.**

**Everybody's Truly, (Because Everyone Wants A Bit Of Captain Kilik)**

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green**


	2. Later That Night

Angel of the Sand

Chapter 2: Later That Night

Sakura went home happily, having just made what would soon be her second best friend, the first one being Ino-Pig.

"Hey Mommy, guess what happened today!" Sakura said loudly and excitedly.

"What's that dear?" Sakura's mom asked, distracted with her nails as they were walking.

"I met a nice boy today! He stood up for me against bullies!" She said, holding her Mom's right hand as she walked.

"That's nice dear." She said, before she groaned.

"Damnit, I chipped a nail." She muttered. Sakura grew an angry pout, before saying,

"Mommy, you need to put a dollar in the cuss jar." Sakura's Mom merely laughed, before saying,

"Oh, I forgot. Alright sweetie, when we get home, I'll put a dollar in." Sakura's mom, of course, had no intention of doing that whatsoever, figuring her daughter would forget.

* * *

><p>"C'mon Gaara, we need to get home." Gaara's older sister, Temari said gently, so as to not invoke the wrath of the young red headed Jinchuriki. Gaara glared at her, before turning and walking.<p>

"So what happened with you today, Kankuro?" Temari asked, hoping to lighten up the mood as her and Gaara's other elder sibling followed him home.

"Well, I met this really cute girl, and I nearly scored, but she said I was too young." Kankuro said, looking down sadly. A vein popped out on Temari's head, before she swung her fan out and hit Kankuro on the head.

"What did I tell you? You're only eight! You don't need relationships!" Temari yelled, before taking a deep breath and walking.

"So what happened to you today, Gaara?" She asked, not really expecting an answer, but doing it as a gesture of courtesy.

"I met a girl today." He said, which caused Kankuro and Temari to stop in their tracks. They looked at each other questioningly before they hurried up.

"Oh really?" Kankuro said, a devilish smirk coming across his features.

" She is from Konohagakure." Gaara said bluntly, before walking forward. Both twins snickered behind his back, before continuing walking. They walked in silence like this until they got to the tower. The guard stopped them, before saying,

"I'm sorry Lord Gaara, but your father told me to prevent you from coming in if you had your sand with you." The guard said, slightly sad as he knew what that meant. Gaara nodded, before walking in.

* * *

><p>Sakura happily ate some of the salted ice cream her mother made for her. Of course she had forgotten to put the dollar in the swear jar, but Sakura figured she'd let her off the hook. Her parents were still finishing dinner, when her mother spoke up.<p>

"So Sakura, tell me about your new boyfriend." She said, before grinning.

Sakura turned red in the face, before proclaiming,

"He's not my boyfriend!" She took another lick of ice cream, before saying,

"His name is Sabaku no Gaara, and he has red hair, and black circles around his eyes that might not be makeup, and green eyes like mine, just brighter, and red hair, and...and...oh! He has a demon in him!" Sakura said, before closing her mouth quickly, realizing too late she had let the demon part slip.

Sakura's parents' silverware fell out of their hands as they gaped in shock. She must have been referring to the Kazekage's son.

"That's it, we're leaving tomorrow. You're NEVER to see this boy again." Sakura's father said sternly, as he put his arms on the table, staring at Sakura.

Sakura had never felt so horrible. Not only did she tell her parents about his secret, now she had to leave and never come back, so she couldn't be his friend.

"But daddy!" Sakura wailed, before she started crying. Sakura's dad's gaze softened at this, before he reached over and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry, baby, it's just that until you can really understand what he really is, then I don't want you near him." Sakura's father, Ishi, had said. Sakura sniffed, before nodding.

"Okay..." She said dejectedly.

Sakura got down from the table, before walking to her room, laying down on her bed, then crying herself to sleep.

* * *

><p>Gaara walked into his father's chambers, scared as to what he'd find.<p>

"So son...I heard you made a friend today. A girl." The Kazekage said coldly, hands behind his back, which were holding a whip with hooks in it. Gaara gulped.

"Y-yes sir." Gaara said, before the Kazekage nodded.

"You know why you can't have friends, correct?" He asked, before continuing without giving Gaara a chance to reply. "Because they are a weakness. Especially women. You are a weapon. You are to have NO weaknesses." the Kazekage said coldly, before turning to Gaara.

"I'm going to have to once again beat the emotion out of you." He said, before letting the tip of the whip fall to the ground. "Go ahead and hold onto the bedpost." He said, to which Gaara complied. When he did less to make his father angry, he never hurt him so bad.

The Kazekage nodded in satisfaction. He raised the whip, and sent it slamming down onto his son's back, the hooks ripping through flesh and muscle alike. The Kazekage did this three more times, before walking to his son, grabbing him by his hair.

"Can you feel the weakness leaving you, son? This hurts me more than it does you!" He yelled, before he slammed Gaara's head into the post, hearing a pop, some blood remaining on the post. Gaara crumpled to the ground, before his father walked to the closet. "

"We're not done yet, son." He said, as he grabbed an iron bar. The Kazekage brought it slamming down upon his son's chest, cracking two ribs. He brought it down again on his right leg, shattering the joint.

"See what love gets you? It makes you have to teach your kids like this!" He shrieked, before he grabbed a kunai.

"I'll give you a permanent reminder why you NEVER love ANYTHING!" The Kazekage shrieked again, before bringing the kunai down on his son's forehead. He carved the kanji for love on his son's forehead, before spitting on him.

"Worthless trash, your mother died because she couldn't live with the thought of having to see your ugly face every day." He said, before walking away, yelling at the medic to get in there pronto. Gaara lay there, crying, holding onto the image of Sakura, his newest and best friend, as his mind receded into unconsciousness.

**"We can get him back." **A dark, deep voice at the back of Gaara's head said.

"W-what?" Gaara asked innocently, before he was standing in a dark room.

**"We can make him feel our pain. With the sand."** The voice said, before a large raccoon with two glowing stars for eyes and blue veins criss-crossing his body walked into view. The large yellow raccoon appeared to be made of sand, but it lowered its head down to stare at Gaara's small figure.

**"In exactly five years we will have the power to get rid of him. We will show him our pain then."** Shukaku said.

Gaara knew it was wrong, but he agreed anyway. The hate he had developed deep in his heart was unforgivable, and for that the Kazekage needed to be punished.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay everyone, there's Chapter 2. A bit on the sad side, huh? Well, hopefully it'll pick up. By that I mean get better. Hopefully you all guessed the quote, and if not, it was from Angelv98 and LoveShinobi4Eva. I'd HIGHLY recommend you read and review their stories, as they put me and most others to shame. And a special congrats to katarin kishika for guessing who the mystery author's were. <strong>

**Well, for now, so long folks.**

**Everybody's Truly, (Because Everybody Wants Some Of Captain Kilik)**

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green**


	3. Heartbreak

**Chapter 3: Goodbyes**

Gaara waited at the playground the next day, sitting on the same swing as before. His memories drifted to the night before, when he had gotten home.

As the memory of the night before came rushing back, so did the pain of the deep puncture wounds on his back from the hooks. He also looked down, at his leg, which was wrapped in a thick gauze. The medic-nin had been able to heal the broken bone, but not completely. So Gaara needed to avoid over-exerting himself.

The voices of Kankuro and Temari as they were whispering, hiding behind the door while the medics cleaned him up still rang in his ears.

_"You think Father will ever give him a chance..?" Temari asked Kankuro, who put a finger to his lips, before shaking his head._

_"Not so long as he has the one tailed Shukaku in him. As long as the demon is there, he will always see Gaara as nothing more than a weapon." Kankuro said, slightly sadly. _

_"Oh...poor Baby Brother..." Temari said, referring him to the nickname she had used when they were younger. A sniff from behind the door suggested one of them may be crying. Most likely Temari._

_Gaara heard a shuffling, which he guessed to be Kankuro putting an arm around their sister. Gaara felt a little bit of happiness bloom in his breast at the thought of his siblings caring for him, but that good feeling went away when he heard his father's voice echoing,_

_"See what love gets you?" He heard, his father's slightly nasal, but deep voice mocked. Gaara shuddered, before opening his eyes slightly. He could see the corner of Kankuro's elbow, or was that Temari's fan? Gaara's vision was too blurry to be able to currently tell._

_"Perhaps we should do something? " Temari asked, trying to reign in her emotions. _

_"No...we wouldn't want Father turning against us for trying to help him..." Kankuro replied solemnly. _

_Temari and Kankuro both peaked around the door, Temari with tears in her eyes, and Kankuro with a sad look on his face. Gaara opened his eyes, and saw them. He reached one weak hand out to them, but to no avail. As they saw his hand, Temari started crying, and Kankuro turned, walking away. _

_"Please...brother...sister..." He asked, a tear streaking his face, as they both walked away._

_'Why couldn't they come? Do they hate me, also now? What did I do wrong?' Gaara asked himself, putting his hand down and closing his eyes. _

_"You're nothing but trash." The Kazekage's voice echoed in Gaara's head._

_"No I'm not! I'm not trash!" Gaara yelled mentally at himself._

_"Yes, you are. I told you, there was no point in you trying to love. You will never get it back." The Kazekage's voice mocked, which infuriated Gaara even more._

_"You're lying! They are my siblings! We love each other!" Gaara said, before a tremor shook him, making him realize he was crying as the medics worked on him. _

_"No, they don't. Why else would they walk away?" The Kazekage asked, before chuckling darkly._

_"I'll prove it to you! Tomorrow, when I meet Sakura again!" Gaara said, which caused an image of Sakura to flash in his mind. _

_Instantly, the Kazekage's voice became quiet. Gaara sighed, contently, before he truly fell into the deeper levels of unconsciousness, dreams of himself, Kankuro, Temari, and Sakura all playing over and over in his head._

_Gaara shook his head. She would be here. He knew it. He just had to be patient. Today, the park was nearly empty, save for a few younger kids. Today, the Ninja Academy started up again. Gaara didn't often go because, as he was told, there had been an incident with nine casualties the first day, so his father had hired a private tutor. His teacher had weird red marks on his face, and a turban-type headwear with half of it coming down on the left side of his face. Gaara could never remember his name, so he just didn't talk to him often. He did know, however, that supposedly the man was a high-ranking Jounin in the wind country._

_Gaara looked at the kids, happily playing their games, not one of them thinking to include him. One of them had a ball and was playing some game where you're supposed to bounce it in square...oh yeah, four square. He watched, wondering what having friends felt like, before he remembered he did have friends. Sakura counted after all, didn't she?_

_One of the kids went to catch the ball, but accidentally hit it even further. the ball with a red star, yellow background, and blue stripe on it bounced towards Gaara, before eventually rolling. He looked down at it. One of the kids looked at him fearfully, afraid of what he would do. Gaara got down, and grabbed it with his hands, before taking a step, holding it out to show he was giving it back. The other kids ran away screaming, which saddened Gaara, but also infuriated him. He dropped the ball, which the sand picked up, mimicking him as he had just been holding it._

_Gaara glared after the kids, as the sand popped the ball, causing all of the air to fly out at an incredibly fast speed. It threw the skin of the ball of somewhere else, before settling near Gaara's feet. He merely sighed and sat down, swinging again. _

_After about an hour, Gaara heard a noise. He got up, before turning around, hearing the sound. There was Sakura, walking out of the village, hand-in-hand with her parents. She turned to look at Gaara, before turning her head and looking to the gate. Gaara's mouth hung open in shock. He could practically hear the shattering sound of his heart breaking._

_"Sak-ura...?" He numbly mumbled aloud, before tears of anger formed around his eyes. She walked out of the village, not even casting him a second glance. Out of anger, Gaara kneeled down and grabbed a kunai. The kanji his father had carved into his head was now healing, but Gaara decided to cut it back in. He tried shoving the tool in, but found he could not._

_Gaara yelled in frustration, before he forced the sand to cut him, making the kanji wider than it would be with normal tools. Blood mixed with the sand, forming an odd, yet beautiful color. Gaara laughed, a maniacal sound. His father had been right, love was useless. His face went blank when he turned around, hearing a voice. _

_"Gaara?" Temari asked, uncertain as to what to say before she saw the kanji. Her mouth opened in horror, before Gaara coldly said, _

_"Go away." _

_Temari looked as if she were about to cry, before running away. Loneliness, that's what Gaara would endure. But he would find something to help him, whether it was eating, sleeping, or even killing. Now, Gaara would teach the villagers true fear. _


	4. Chunin Showdown: Gaara vs Sasuke

Chapter 4: Five Years Later

***Well, folks! It's time for the annual Chuunin Exams, Second Round!***

Hundreds of spectators screamed in delight, the Chuunin exams being a tournament that Genin participate in to obtain a higher shinobi rank, which hundreds, of not thousands, come ot witness. .

Currently, our story takes place at the second matches, which pit different shinobi against each other. In matches of skill and strategy. It pits two opponents against each other to fight until one gives up, or one cannot go any further.

Gaara looked at the other spectators, no emotions rolling through him at all. He searched the crowd, looking for the one kunoichi who broke his heart five years ago, when he was at the age of seven. In mere minutes, he spotted her, the pink-haired nin who had deserted him after saying she would be his friend. Gaara glared especially hard in her direction, before turning back to the fight, which was currently Nara Shikamaru against Sabaku no Temari.

Gaara scowled, seeing his sister losing. He knew what the outcome would be, so he decided to check out his surroundings a little more. He saw a blonde-haired boy next to Haruno Sakura, the girl who had broken him emotionally. He disregarded him immediately, but there was something about him that peaked his interest. Moving along the crowd, Gaara noticed nobody else of interest. Gaara felt two power levels just a half of a mile from where he was, so decided to check it out, it appealing to his curiosity.

Gaara used his sand to seemingly teleport him to a mountainous area he had seen not too far from Konoha, merely a ten minute walk. He stood there, before he heard voices. It was one of...a younger man, like himself, and an older man. He hid behind a rock, before using his Third Eye of Shukaku Jutsu to see who it was.

When the eye appeared over the rock, it showed a silver-haired nin with a mask covering his face and his headband pulled down over his eye. There was another, raven haired boy next to him. His eyes were red, with small Tomoe on the outer ring of his pupil. _'His hair looks like the rear of a chicken...' _was Gaara's first thought about the boy.

Gaara just now realized they were all alone, which seemed to awaken Shukaku.

***Kill them. Take their blood, and sacrifice it to me.* **The Shukaku said, which caused Gaara to shake his head.

Slowly, Gaara felt Shukaku trying to take over, his willpower exceeding Gaara's. Gaara started panting heavily, as the effort of Shukaku trying to take over was exhausting him.

"You can come on out. I can feel your bloodlust." he heard the silver-haired nin say, which shocked Gaara. Slowly he came out, his eyes wide. "No sneak attacks today. Now go." Kakashi said. Sasuke gave a nod of the head, indicating for Gaara to leave. Gaara glared, before grudgingly obliging.

Gaara walked back to his spot amongst the Sand Spectators, a few feet away from his father. He shot a glare at him, the only person he had hated, besides Sakura. He looked down just in time to hear the spectator call his name.

***And next, it's...Uchiha Sasuke vs. Sabaku no Gaara!* **The announcer yelled, which caused most of the crowd to go quiet. These were the ones that had seen Gaara's last match, and the outcome, which had left Rock Lee physically handicapped for possibly the rest of his life. Gaara smirked, seeing the picture of the raven-haired boy that Shukaku had wanted to kill. Gaara felt his body turning into sand, before it reformed down in the arena. Gaara crossed his arms, waiting for his opponent.

After five minutes, there were whispers of Sasuke not arriving. Gaara merely stared ahead, knowing he would be there. If not, Gaara felt he would have to track him down and kill him later on.

Growing impatient, Gaara started to turn away. It was then he heard,

"Yeah yeah, I'm here."

Everybody turned their heads, seeing a smirking Sasuke Uchiha standing, on the wall, pouring his chakra into his feet to keep himself sideways. He jumped down to the ground where Gaara was standing, backing up a few feet so that way they were the minimum distance away before a match could begin.

"I want a good, clean fight...or at least as clean as you can keep it, Gaara." One of the ANBU said, turning to each. Sasuke nodded, which appeared to be enough for the ANBU. He jumped back a few feet, before bringing the whistle to begin the match to his lips.

The whistle was blown, but Gaara stood there. Sasuke immediately started performing hand signs before yelling,

"Fire Style Jutsu!"

Sasuke inhaled a large breath of air, before exhaling fire, which he controlled using his hands. Gaara's sand rose to protect him, shrugging the fireball off easily. Sasuke started running at Gaara, and nearly made it, before Gaara made his sand raise, and fly full-force at Sasuke's chest, knocking him back.

Sasuke jumped back up from a prone position, before smirking. He sent a few kunai towards Gaara, which the sand easily blocked. It also blocked Gaara from seeing Sasuke run up the wall. He looked around, before spotting him. Sasuke crouched on the wall, putting one hand straight down, putting the other hand around his wrist. A blue ball of chakra formed in Sasuke's hands, chirping like a thousand birds.

"Chidori!" Sasuke yelled, before running at Gaara.

Gaara could see this was a highly destructive jutsu, so reverted to actually using his own custom jutsu.

"Wind Style, Sand Flytrap Jutsu!" Sasuke nearly hit Gaara with the jutsu, but Gaara's jutsu blocked it. As soon as Sasuke's hands were within feet of Gaara's torso, a massive cylinder of sand rose up, engulfing Gaara as a flytrap would snatch a fly out of the air. The outside was very hard, which caused Sasuke to only get a few inches into the sand, nearly hitting Gaara's chest. Gaara looked down, seeing Sasuke's hand protruding into the inner chambers. He snorted, before sending spikes out of the flytrap, which impaled Sasuke in the shoulder.

Sasuke yelled in pain, before he ripped his arm out of the sand. He performed a few handsigns, before he threw a demon-wind shuriken just as Gaara's sand flytrap lowered to the ground. Gaara moved his head inches to the right, before smirking. He heard another whistle, and looked behind him, seeing another Shuriken flying at him. Gaara's sand rose to block it, but by now, Sasuke has started forming another Chidori. Gaara looked to his sensei, who nodded. A large ball formed around Gaara, with Gaara inside uttering mantras and having his hands crossed in a peculiar way.

As Sasuke ran at Gaara, spikes flew out to prevent him from reaching Gaara. Sasuke dodged most of these, but made it to the cocoon. He shoved his wrist through, hitting Gaara in the shoulder. He paused for a moment, looking down to see six spikes protruding from the cocoon, hitting his shoulders, a knee cap, his right thigh, his left shin, and the last one slashed straight down his wrist, the one that was in the cocoon. He yelled, a maniacal and crazy sound,

"I am an Uchiha, and ELITE!"

Sasuke backed away, his arm coming out easily. He backed up, and ran, putting chakra in his feet so he could ran and jump farther and faster. Gaara destroyed his sphere, in a rage that Sasuke had gotten through his barrier. He chased after, his sand armor covering him. Kankuro followed, but in minutes found his way to his earlier opponent, with whom he couldn't finish the match.

"Useless." Gaara snarled, before continuing his chase.

Little did Gaara know, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto were chasing after from a distance.

**Well guys, there's the next chapter. I have to say I didn't like it very much, but it's more of a filler chapter anyway. That fighting scene sucked. The next one will be better, I assure you. I'm actually looking forward to the next. Also, yes, I DID mess with the Chuunin exams a little to make them suit my needs. Sasuke and Naruto fans, please don't hate me for what's coming up next.**

**But yeah, I had SO little confidence in this chapter, I actually went through and read it again, just to make sure it sounded okay. Which I normally don't.**

**Anyway, if you want to talk about the story in greater detail, go ahead and send a pm my way and I'll try to reply as quick as possible. **

**So R&R and I'll get back with another update. **

**Oh, and 11 reviews for the first three chapters isn't too shabby, but I'd like to see more. If I get more reviews, then I'll...give you all half of a invisible cookie. **

**Everybody's Truly, **

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green**


	5. Naruto To the Rescue!

Angel of the Sand: Chapter 5

Gaara jumped from tree branch to tree branch after Sasuke. If you looked really hard, it may ALMOST look as if he were determined.

"Uchiha...you will finish the fight." He said, as he thickened his sand armor. Sasuke up ahead kept running, holding some of his wounds, but one always his hands moving to a spot on his neck. Gaara's non-existent brow furrowed at seeing this, knowing this wasn't a wound he had caused.

"Sasuke!" He heard a shrill voice yell from behind him. Gaara looked behind for a moment, seeing Sakura and Naruto. He gritted his teeth. As much as he may not want to admit it, he didn't want to kill either just yet.

Gaara turned around mid-jump, shooting a blast of sand at two trees they were headed to, which hardened and acted as a wall. Gaara turned and kept following, noticing when Sasuke abruptly stopped. He turned to face Gaara, before putting both hands at his sides. Gaara stopped on a tree branch and noted their surroundings. They were in a patch of forest directly next to the Fire Plains, a large stretch of plains in the Land of Fire.

"Sabaku...I think it's time we end this." Sasuke said, smirking. The spot Sasuke had been holding earlier seemed to pulse, before flames stretched from the area, covering his body.

"Now I will show you the power Orochimaru saw fit to give me, for reasons unknown." Sasuke said, before he charged up a chidori. Gaara made the sand in his gourd pop the cork off so he could have full access to all of his sand. Slowly it filled the area, seemingly with no bottom by the amount of sand coming out of it.

The floor was covered in sand, making it look like somehow trees were growing from the sand. Gaara nodded in satisfaction, before taking off the sash that held up his gourd. he tossed it on the ground, the sand that acted as his armor also acting to keep the gourd attached to his back. The gourd, also, turned into sand and fell to the branch, but always stayed near Gaara.

Sasuke jumped off of the branch, going to Gaara with the chidori. A large claw made of sand with blue veins rose out of the sand, attempting to smack Sasuke away, but unfortunately the chidori prevailed. Gaara tried moving out of the way, but his arm got caught in the crossfire. There was a loud sizzling, before Gaara's arm went numb. Reflexively, sand came up to shield him, but when it could not, smacked Sasuke back into a tree.

Gaara looked to his arm, noticing that he could not move his arm. He started panicking, which caused him to enter a frenzied state.

"No...no no no. You can't have. Not my arm." Gaara said hysterically, before looking at Sasuke.

"You. You hurt me. You must die!" He said, as his eyes turned from a jade color to small and beady, with yellow stars for the pupil. Another large hand with blue veins came up, grabbed Sasuke, before flew towards a tree, smashing him into it.

Sasuke stuck to the palm, which then flung him out to Gaara, who put a fist up. A fist of sand rose from behind Gaara, also with blue veins. It punched Sasuke back mercilessly, breaking an especially thick tree trunk. Sand started covering more of Gaara's arm, but making it larger, resembling the hands of sand he had made.

Sasuke looked on in pure repulsion, as it went up to Gaara's entire left section of his body. Gaara raised his hand, so the palm was pointing at Sasuke. The arm flew towards Sasuke, who nimbly dodged it. Sasuke turned in midair, before throwing four kunai and yelling,

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

The flames went to envelope each shuriken. Gaara blocked all of the flames, but did not expect the shuriken, which got through the overall thin sand shield he had made, impaling his chest.

"Sasuke!" He heard, before turning to see Sakura bounding over. She got to a branch which was facing both Sasuke and Gaara before looking at Gaara in awe.

"Gaara...what happened to you?" Sakura asked, which she regretted moments later when rather than reply, Gaara stuck her against a tree with sand. She struggled, but could not move. Gaara made it so she would not die, but also could not move.

Gaara turned to Sasuke, who was starting to feel the effects of the Cursed Mark already. Gaara looked to Sasuke again, before twisting his hand upside-down, his fingers outstretched. Sand immediately rose up to Sasuke, encasing him in a cocoon of sand.

"Sand Coffin." Gaara said, emotionlessly.

"What the...? This is what you got Lee with..." Sasuke said. Sakura shrieked, before seemingly falling unconscious.

"Sand Burial." Gaara finished.

Using the last bit of his remaining strength, as Gaara was turning his hand to make it right side up, he broke mostly free, his ankles and right wrist getting caught. Gaara closed his hand, forming a fist, as the sand compressed. Sasuke screamed in pain, before falling to the branch unconscious. Gaara took a step forward, before feeling a fist hit him in the face.

"Hey, ugly!" Naruto yelled, upper-cutting the sand master. Gaara brought his left arm to slam into Naruto, knocking him back into a tree. Naruto jumped back up, before crossing his fingers.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled, which caused four of Naruto to appear. They all jumped at Gaara, only to be knocked back by Gaara's sand arm. The real Naruto fell from above, kicking Gaara in the head.

"I'll get you with my new taijutsu!" He yelled, grinning. Instantly, he created more shadow clones, before running to Gaara. Three of the Naruto's slid on the ground, kicking Gaara into the air.

"Naruto-" They yelled, as one appeared above Gaara. Gaara looked up in time to see Naruto's foot come flying at his head.

"Uzumaki Barrage!" He yelled, slamming his foot down onto Gaara's head. Gaara hit the ground, a crater in the sand forming around him. Instantly it covered Gaara. Naruto walked to Sakura, before hearing a rumbling. Instantly, a large raccoon tanuki rose out of the sand, with blue veins around the body and eyes the size of Naruto's head.

"What the...?" Naruto asked, before it opened its mouth. Sand flew out, forming little needles. Naruto tried covering his face, but the needles instead impaled his arms and torso. Naruto gritted his teeth, before biting his thumb and pressing it to the ground.

"Summoning jutsu!" He yelled, as a 'poof' was heard, and a large toad the size of the Shukaku appeared.

"I need help boss toad!" Naruto yelled, standing on top of the head, pointing at Shukaku.

"As soon as you get your damned foot out of my eye." it grumbled, making Naruto sheepishly take a step back.

"Now what have we here...ahh! The Shukaku! Oh..." He said, before turning to Naruto, then saying,

"This is all I can do for you, but hopefully it's enough." He said, taking a mouthful of air. He exhaled, blowing it at the Shukaku. The sand started blowing off, revealing Gaara sitting there, asleep.

"Thanks Chief!" Naruto yelled, jumping off, before realizing he couldn't jump far enough to reach Gaara.

"Oh sh-" He yelled, before he felt a large wet flipper hit him, causing him to fly at Gaara. Naruto yelled, while cursing the Chief Toad in his mind. Instantly, his head connected with Gaara's, jolting the Sand nin awake. Gaara looked to Naruto, before sending a blast of sand at him. Naruto got hit, and flew back on the plains.

The form of Shukaku shuddered, before falling down into sand, Gaara's chakra being nearly depleted. Gaara fell back-first into a pile of sand. He stood up, struggling, opening his hand, the palm facing Naruto. He heard a screaming, before feeling something tackle his legs. Gaara fell to his knees, before looking around.

Instead of an enemy, he found a pink-haired kunoichi clinging to his legs, sobbing.

"Please Gaara, don't kill him. Don't do it...please. I'm asking as your...friend." Sakura sobbed, before adjusting herself so she was holding onto his chest.

Gaara reined in his emotions no matter what they may be. Naruto stood, and attempted to throw a shuriken at Gaara, which he deflected easily.

"Why should I stop?" He asked Sakura, who looked at him with tear-stained eyes.

"Because they're my friends. And while they fight for me, I will fight for them." She said, burying her face into Gaara's shirt, continuing to beg him not to kill either of them.

Gaara, for a split second, wondered what it would be like to have something to fight for, other than to kill. Gaara fell to his side, all of his sand armor cracking, blood pouring from his wounds.

"Sakura...why did you leave?" Gaara asked, his tone going childish. A tear came to his eye, as he waited for a response.

"Because...my parents made me." Sakura said, her eyes threatening to overflow even more.

"Oh...I thought you hated me, also." Gaara said, his tone starting to get sleepy. Sakura shook her head, nearly smiling.

"No, I'm your friend. Of course I don't hate you." Sakura said, brushing Gaara's hair from his forehead.

"How did this happen?" Sakura gasped, which earned a sigh from Gaara.

"I thought you hated me, and with all of the recent events, it all threatened to crush me...that was the only way I knew to vent." He explained, before closing his eyes.

"Sakura...will you stay with me? At least, until I wake up?" Gaara asked, which earned a nod from Sakura, who pulled Gaara's head onto her lap, stroking his cheek. Gaara almost smiled, before falling into unconsciousness.

**Not much to say after that, huh? ...I wonder what'll happen next? Mmm? Only Kilik here knows, and he's not telling. By the way, to all of you who reviewed, enjoy your invisible cookies. :D**

**Anyway, if anybody is a fan of Bleach, I will be starting an UlquiHime story once I'm done with the current story. (Ulquiorra and Orihime.)**

**For now, I'm going to shove off on my little dinghy! Goodbye to you all, and until my ship docks again!**

**Everybody's Truly,**

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green**


	6. Them Again!

Angel of the Sand: Chapter 6

Present Day

Ages:

Sabaku no Gaara: 17

Haruno Sakura: 17

Uzumaki Naruto: 18

Uchiha Sasuke: 17

Sakura tightened her gloves, an excited smile on her face. She looked to the rest of her team, which was Uzumaki Naruto, and Nolastname Sai. She looked at her teacher, Hatake Kakashi, who was hunched over, reading his inappropriate novel, Icha-Icha Paradise. He had a smile on his face that oddly resembled that of Master Jiraiya's, the Toad Sage's. As soon as he felt the stare of his pupil, Kakashi turned to Sakura and flashed her his famous eye-grin, in which he crinkles his lone visible eye. Theirs wasn't the only team, either. They had sent Lee's team along with them to help retrieve Sasuke. Might Gai was on a mission, so the leader of that team would be Shikamaru, since he's the one they asked specifically to lead. Since they're a team, Ino and Choji wanted to go, also, and wouldn't quit bugging until they were allowed.

"Ready, everyone?" He asked cheerily, standing up and putting the novel away.

"Definitely, Kakashi-sensei! We're going to get Sasuke back!" Naruto yelled with determination, while fist-pumping. Sakura rolled her eyes. Just like her bone-headed teammate to be excited about something like this. She couldn't deny the fact she was excited also, though. Her longtime crush and friend was finally going to be coming home, whether he liked it or not.

"Are you okay Sakura? You seem distracted." Their sensei asked.

"No, I'm fine." Sakura said, before turning to Shikamaru.

"So, how's your desert princess doing? I heard something about a date when you guys get back." Sakura said, smirking evilly. Shikamaru sighed, before saying,

"What a drag. How come everybody knows what I'm doing in this village? And worse yet, they won't leave me alone about it?" He asked, rolling his head lazily to stare at the clouds.

"Because you keep forgetting who your kunoichi teammate is." Neji said, his eyes closed as he tied his shoes.

"What's that supposed to mean, Neji?" Ino yelled, a vein popping on her forehead as she went to swing at Neji.

"No, Miss Ino! You cannot attempt to extinguish the flames of youth that burn bright within Neji, not even a little! Plus, a beautiful lady should not be as aggressive as your flames are telling me!" Lee said, stopping Ino's punch from reaching Neji, who merely sat there and sighed at what Lee had said.

Ino sighed, before nodding.

"Y'know, Lee, you're right." She said. Neji nodded, before standing up, and walking to Tenten, before putting his arm around her lovingly. Sakura looked away from the scene, towards Naruto and Hinata, of whom the latter was in Naruto's arms, sad to see him go. Naruto was whispering comforting words to her, and patting her head to help calm her down.

"Sakura, the best of luck to you." The normally silent Shino Aburame said to Sakura, who jumped at hearing how close he was, which was about five feet, but still closer then he'd ever been.

"Thank you, Shino." Sakura said, smiling sweetly at him. Kiba ran up, running on all fours, before tackling Sakura in a hug, which took her to the ground. He started licking her face, giving dog kisses all over.

"Kiba! Damnit! Get off of me!" She yelled, punching Kiba off with enough force to send him flying.

"What'd you do that for? He just wanted to say goodbye." She heard a rough male voice say, before turning to see Kiba. A confused look crossed her eyes, before she looked back to see Akamaru lying on the ground, whimpering.

"Oh, Akamaru! I'm so sorry!" She said, running to him, falling to her knees, and then looking for any damage. All there was was a bruise, so she sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry ,Akamaru. I thought you were Kiba." She said, which earned a bark and another lick from the large dog. Sakura giggled, before pushing his head away.

"Okay, enough Akamaru, before I start to treat you like Kiba." She said playfully. Akamaru, also joking, pulled his ears back onto his head, before growling softly. Sakura laughed before patting his head one more time, then walking to the rest of her team.

"Are we ready?" Kakashi asked, looking at a checklist. While Shikamaru was the Chuunin in charge of Lee's team, Kakashi was the ultimate authority, being the only Jounin there.

"Yessir, Kakashi-sensei!" Lee yelled.

"Yup..." Shikamaru said lazily.

"I believe so." Tenten and Neji both said, which earned a giggle from the former.

"Yeahah!" Chouji yelled, grabbing an extra-large handful of potato chips from his bag and stuffing them into his mouth.

"Mhm." Ino said. Everybody turned to Naruto, who was doubled over, as if in pain, his face red.

"Not yet guys, I think I ate some bad ramen." He said, before a nasty gurgling emanated from his stomache. In a flash, Naruto ran to the nearest public restroom. Everybody else just sat there, stunned, except Kakashi, who just sweat-dropped.

.

(Two Hours Later)

"Alright! Let's go!" Naruto yelled, with more excitement than before. Not only had he had to go to the bathroom, he had to get a chance of clothes, since the bathroom was quite a bit of ways away. The grin Naruto had on his face was one that gave Sakura the creeps.

"Alright group, we're going to start jumping trees from here to get there faster." Kakashi said, before taking off, leaving the others in the dust.

After a few more hours they came upon a large plains that lay between them and the supposed area of Orochimaru's base.

"Let's go back to the woods where we're covered and make shelter. We'll attack tomorrow at dawn." Kakashi said, turning back. Instantly, a kunai whizzed past his head, embedding itself into the tree next to his head.

"Kakashi Hatake, the Copy-Nin...what a pleasant surprise." A whited-haired man with a chakra scalpel in his hand said. His arm was still outstretched from throwing the kunai.

"Orochimaru-sama will be so pleased to see me with the head of the most legendary Jounin of all the five countries combined." He said, licking his lips. Kakashi calmly put up his headband, revealing the sharingan eye.

"Very well, we'll see who will win this match." He said, before saying to the others,

"Naruto, Sakura, Lee, Neji, Tenten, go. Shikamaru, I want your squad to report to Hokage-sama what happened." He said, pulling out a kunai of his own. The three nodded, before running back the way they had come.

Kakashi turned back to the white-haired nin, standing in a battle-ready position.

"Kabuto Yakushi, for your crimes against Konoha, you will be executed at this very spot." Kakashi said. Kabuto merely snorted, before running at Kakashi. Kakashi jumped to the air when Kabuto attempted to hit him with a chakra scalpel, before tossing the kunai at him. Kabuto caught it, before looking at it in surprise. A paper bomb was attached to it. He hurled it away quickly, before turning to the area where Kakashi had been, seeing it empty.

"Damnit, Kakashi, where'd you go?" Kabuto asked calmly, looking around. He heard a rustling, and looked up just in time to see Kakashi falling upon him with a kunai aimed down.

Sakura, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Naruto all ran for the edge of the forest, so they weren't exposed. They were shocked when the Sound Five, whom they thought they had defeated earlier, appeared again, save the first fat guy. Sakon and Tayuya grinned, Ukon being hidden in Sakon's back. Even Kimimaro was there.

"Well, if it isn't the leaf shinobi..." Sakon said, smirking.

"Too bad shadow guy and mutt boy aren't here, or else this might be kind of fun." Tayuya said, holding her flute tightly, a glued crack visible in the middle. Kimimaro had no comment, but only had eyes for Lee.

"It will be most honorable to fight you without the life-saving intervention of the wind Kazekage." Lee said, putting one arm behind his back, the other sticking straight in front of him in a vertical position.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Sorry for the late updates, everyone. This week's been pretty busy, and I've been having some severe writer's block. Sorry for the crappy chapter, but reviews on making the next one less crappy are welcome.<span>**

**Everyone's Truly,**

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green**


	7. The First Fight: Tenten vs Tayuya

Angel of the Sand Chapter 7

Kimimaro nodded, tightening the rope that had been tied around his waist.

"Indeed. I look forward to our fight." Kimimaro said, as he turned and took a few steps out to the plains. "Come, I suspect you'd rather have a wide-open area to fight me." He said to Lee, beckoning him.

Tayuya turned to Ten-ten, an evil smirk plastered on her face.

"Ten-ten, I want you to go back into the forest. You'll have the best advantage there!" Neji yelled, as Kidomaru sent a wad of webbing at him.

"Come on, Sakura!" Sai yelled, dragging Naruto behind. Sakura nodded, running after them. She surely hoped they would be okay.

"You forgot about me!" Sakon yelled, throwing shuriken. One struck Sai square in the hand, causing him to drop Naruto.

"Sakura, Naruto, go ahead! Don't forget the mission! Capture Sasuke!" Sai yelled, turning to face his opponent. Sakura and Naruto both nodded, running off in a different direction.

(Here Come The Fight Scenes)

Tenten jumped back, throwing two kunai with one hand, pulling out her favored weapon with the other, her chained sickle. She gripped the weighted end with her right hand, swinging it around, holding the sickle with her left.

"It's gonna take WAY more than that to defeat me!" Tayuya said confidently, playing a soft tune on her flute. Everything around Ten-ten started to take on a distorted shape, slowly moving to and fro. 'What is this, a genjutsu?' Ten-ten wondered.

"Hey, Trash, you'll get killed unless you can keep on par with me!" Tayuya yelled, as she played her flute. Three demons came from the flute, all flying at Tenten, claws slashing wildly. Tenten blocked most of them, but got knocked back by a vicious backhand from the third.

Tenten leaped up, before she started swinging the weighted end of the chain sickle. She tossed it up, wrapping it around a tree-branch. She jumped above the shadows, using the chain to swing to Tayuya, where she tugged it really hard, causing it to unchain itself from the tree, where Tenten slammed her foot into the top of Tayuya's head, slamming her to the ground.

"Ahh, Bitch!" Tayuya snarled, standing up again, holding her already-bruising forehead. Tenten smirked, before she saw Tayuya raise the flute to her lips again.

"Sound Style: Head Shatter Jutsu" She said in the middle of playing. When she started the melody back up, a terrible headache erupted in Tenten's head, causing her to fall to her knees. The demon's all ran at her, knocking her back and slashing her multiple times. Tenten stood up shakily, pulling a scroll from behind her.

Tenten bit her thumb, causing blood to start running out slowly. Tenten jumped and unfurled the scroll in mid-air, before saying,

"Summoning Jutsu! Kage's Blade Barrage!"

Hundreds of bladed weapons came out of the scroll, flying at Tayuya. She jumped back, but could not avoid them all. Not even the demons could block them all. A multitude of kunai and shuriken got through, hitting Tayuya.

"That's it! I've had enough of you, Trash!" Tayuya yelled, as she went into her Cursed-Mark form.

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I've been having some problems at home and school, so couldn't post in a while. And some of you wanted to know whether or not this is during the Chuunin Exams, and I wanted to say, NO! Yeah, I've been jumping around a bit, but trust me, the story will not jump around anymore, and it only gets better from here. I estimate that it'll be anywhere from 8 to 15 chapters long, so some of you may have to bear with me. 

Again, I'm reminding you all that soon I will get started on a short Ulquiorra and Orihime story. I have decided it will be an AU in which they are in the medieval ages. Yes, it's the classic knight rescues princess story. But there WILL be a twist.

...I sounded a bit like M. Night Shyamalan there...

Anyway...Goodbye for all, and until I sail my boat back to .

Everybody's Truly,

Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green

P.S. The chapters WILL get longer from here on out, this was just mainly a filler. 


	8. The Spider Fights Back!

Angel of the Sand Chap. 7

Tayuya's hat ripped into shreds, as her skin grew darker, and horns grew from her head.

"Betcha didn't expect this, huh?" She yelled, pointing at Tenten. Tenten merely stared, horrified. Tayuya ran up to Tenten at a surprising speed, before punching her in the gut. Tenten coughed, before staggering back.

"That's for the kick to the face!" She said, as she jumped in the air, spinning to deliver a round-house kick.

"This is for that weapon barrage!" She yelled. Tenten caught the leg, and slammed her into a tree, hearing a satisfying crack.

Tenten quickly pulled out a kunai, and went to drive it through Tayuya's throat. Tayuya grabbed the hand, and started to push Tenten back. Tenten quickly reached behind into her pouch, grabbed another one, and slammed it into Tayuya's forehead. Blood trickled down, covering her eyes. Tayuya's eyes rolled back in their sockets, before her entire body fell limp. Tenten breathed heavily, before wiping the sweat off of her brow.

"You were a worthy oppone-" She said, getting cut off to the feeling of someone kicking her in the stomache.

"What was that?" Tayuya's voice called, mocking. Tenten's eyes widened, before she looked over to Tayuya's body. She was staring at Tenten, the kunai still in her head.

"Oh, Bitch, I'm not dead." She said, pulling the kunai out of her forehead, causing blood to spill out. The three ghosts came again from the flute as she started playing it, grabbing Tenten by the leg and slamming her against the tree. Tenten's head hit the tree with a sickening crunch, knocking Tenten out immediately.

(Meanwhile, back to Neji and Kidoumaru...)

Neji ran through the forest, globs of web being shot at him. Every time he did, Neji used just a small amount of chakra and performed a rotation, destroying the blob before it even got close. When they got to a small clearing, Neji stopped.

"I've defeated you once, and I'll do it again." Neji said calmly, getting into his Juuken stance. The six-armed Sound nin laughed, before jumping onto a tree, climbing up.

"Y'know, you were fun. You're lucky I let you live." Kidomaru said, laughing again. "Since we both know I can't defeat you in my first two forms, I'm going to go ahead and go straight to second. After all, it'll save me power later in the game." Kidomaru added.

Neji nodded, before Kidomaru transformed. His hair grew longer and white, his skin darker, his eyes a golden color. The eight arms all took on a hairier look, and the fingernails elongated. Kidomaru laughed at Neji, seeing the calm look on his face. Kidomaru formed his golden bow and arrows immediately.

"This time, I won't leave." Kidomaru said, as several swords formed from the gold metal that was coming from his pores. Kidomaru unleashed four arrows, each hitting the ground around Neji, rather than hitting him.

"Eight Seals, Great Webbing Technique!" Kidomaru yelled. He spit webbing out of his mouth, which went to the arrows. They then expanded to try and cover Neji. Neji performed a Juuken strike, which turned off all of the chakra in one of Kidomaru's arms.

"Damnit! This level sucks!" He yelled, as he jumped back. He performed multiple handsigns, before saying,

"Web Spikes!" The webbing became spiky, and again expanded to Neji. Neji performed a rotation, but was cut by the web, as it had become harder and spiky. Neji stopped once the web stopped advancing. Neji looked at the webbing, and quckly grabbed a handful of the silkier web.

Kidomaru shot another arrow, which Neji didn't notice, as it was among a volley of arrows the spider-nin had shot. The one arrow in specific had a thin invisible webbing, which caused Kidomaru to be able to control it. Neji performed a rotation, but did not see the one with webbing, as it hit his blind spot on his shoulder. Neji saw the arrow, and quickly turned, so it barely scraped the skin. Before he could perform a Juuken strike on the web, Kidomaru ripped it off.

"Too slow!" He taunted, before creating a spear. He ran up close to Neji, but too far away to be hit. He shoved the spear towards the weak point, where Neji retaliated by wrestling the spear from his grip and jabbing it at him, stabbing him in one of his lower arms. Neji smirked satisfactorily, before tossing it off in the distance. Kidomaru frowned, before jumping back again, firing another arrow, using all six of his remaining arms to increase the power. Neji jumped out of the way, knowing he wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Try it again, I will not run from this spot, monster. I promise. See if your pathetic arrow can even harm me." Neji said. Kidomaru grew angry, before dropping the other weapons, putting all of his strength into this one arrow, taking Neji's word, already noticing how honorable the Hyuuga is. Neji performed a few handsigns, muttering under his breath,

"Gentle Fist Style: Chakra Field" An invisible shield of chakra surrounded Neji. Kidomaru shot the arrow, it flying at a nearly invisible speed. Neji waited until it got near, where he moved his arms. He leaned his body to the side, so the arrow missed. He then put his hands around the arrow, the chakra force keeping it perfectly between both hands even though the hands and the arrow weren't touching.

Keeping the speed of the arrow perfectly, Neji performed a rotation, which would increase the speed and force of the arrow. At the last second, at the end of the third revolution, he let it go, aiming specifically for Kidomaru's forehead. Not only that, but he reinforced it with a Juuken strike, so it would rupture all of his organs if he so much as touched it.

Kidomaru stared in awe, as the arrow passed directly through his forehead, leaving no blood, but brains spattered behind him, the arrow flying as fast as a bullet flying behind him, tearing through multiple trees. Kidomaru fell to his knees as simultaneously, his heart exploded in his chest, the Juuken strike affecting him also. Blood flew out of his forehead and mouth, before his eyes glazed over and he died instantaneously.

"Never underestimate we Hyuuga, vermin." Neji said, as he started walking to find the others, before collapsing from exhaustion. The next thing he knew a pair of arms were taking him away. He looked up, and saw the blurred features of Gai-sensei. He smiled, seeing his sensei back, before falling back into unconsciousness.

**Well, ladies and gents? What'd you think? **

**In case some of you are wondering, lately I haven't uploaded too much. That's because I was thinking of a way to increase reviews. Because honestly guys, it hurts. Only three or four a chapter? More reviews makes me more inspired to write for you guys, so please try harder. Thanks to all of you who have been, I love you all.**

**Everyone's Truly,**

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green **


	9. Important Notice

Uhh...hey guys. I kinda got some complaints saying something about chapters 4 and 6 being the same. I looked back, and I am SOO sorry. I changed it back to the original chapter. I must have accidentally swapped them. Anyway, go ahead and look at any time. :D

-Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green


	10. Twin Mayhem!

Angel of the Sand: Chapter 9

Sakon grinned at Sakura, his head slightly tilted.

"Why, hello beautiful." He said, walking forward, one hand reaching out for her.

"What fun we'll have." Sakon said, before a slap was heard. Sakon pulled his hand back, before saying,

"Aww, Ukon, you always have to ruin the fun." An arm was sticking out of Sakon's shoulder, slowly going back in. Sakon sighed, before putting his arm down.

"Not yet. We must take care of the man first." A voice said, as a head emerged from Ukon's shoulder, staring at the two.

"You two will be fun, I can already tell. Now hurry up, Sakon, I want to get back and claim our reward." Ukon said impatiently. Sakon sighed, before dashing at Naruto. Naruto barely had time to block, before a fist came at him. He dodged Sakon's initial blow, but did not expect another fist to come out of Sakon's shoulder and punch him in the jaw.

"What trash..." Sakon commented, to which the head of Ukon merely nodded. Naruto hit a tree, and fell to his bottom. He stood up slowly, before wiping blood off his lip.

"That's one punch you got there." He told Ukon, before crossing two of his index and middle fingers.

"But I've got a better one!" He yelled, before saying,

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Immediately a 'poof' sound was heard, before there were hundreds of Naruto's all around, grinning, and talking.

"Now come on Naruto's, show 'em what you got!" He yelled, before they all ran at them.

The real Naruto's eyes widened as another set of arms and legs emerged from Sakon's body. His body moved gracefully, as if one set of the limbs passed through the others like water, making it hard to even touch Sakon. All of the Naruto's were defeated, a few at a time. When the real Naruto got there, he realized there were only two left. Ukon's head grinned at him, sending a fist to Naruto's gut, and a kick to the head to follow up.

Naruto fell to his hands and knees, coughing, holding his chest.

"You'll never defeat us like that." He said, smirking. He didn't notice Sakura running behind them, until Ukon yelled,

"Sakon! Behind you!" Sakon jumped back and turned in midair, narrowly avoiding a punch from Sakura. Sakura kept going, so her fist collided with a tree. The tree shattered all around her fist, falling to the ground with a sound of thunder.

Sakon and Ukon looked on in awe. They could not believe anyone was capable of that kind of destructive ability, let alone a medic kunoichi.

"Thank you Ukon, if you had not told me, I may not have been able to make us move." Sakon said, regaining his composure. Ukon merely nodded, before switching his gaze to Naruto.

"Shall we perform the usual?" Ukon asked, to which Sakon nodded. Ukon made grunting sound, before a tearing-like noise was heard. Ukon was slowly pulling himself from Sakon's body. After a moment, he stood there, staring at Naruto.

"Well then, shall we dance, trash?" Ukon asked, as his body slowly turned into a vapor-like form, floating to Naruto. Naruto stood there, before Sakura yelled,

"Move!" Naruto shook his head before sidestepping, but it was too late. Ukon had entered Naruto's body. Ukon's head emerged from Naruto's shoulder, before saying,

"You should wash your clothes, you smell like garbage." He slowly forced Naruto into a crucified position, holding him there. Naruto grunted from effort, before he slowly regained control of his body.

Meanwhile, off in the distance, a man watched from with plains with a brown cloak covering his body, a large bulge hiding on the back-portion. He muttered a jutsu, before looking back up.

Naruto found he could move easier, and slowly stood up. How, he wasn't sure. He ran at Sakon, Ukon powerless to stop him. Naruto went to punch Sakon, but was too slow. Sakon punched Naruto in the gut, which caused Ukon to cry out in pain.

"Sakon, you idiot! Watch what you're doing!" He yelled, an arm coming from Naruto's neck, rubbing his forehead.

"Sorry!" Sakon yelled, before pushing Naruto away. Ukon shook his head, before sinking back into Naruto's body, the lips still visible on his shoulder.

"I'm going to kill you, trash. Slowly, from the inside-out." He said, grinning. Naruto fell to his knees, as a painful convulsion wracked his body. He heard a distant roaring, before he felt himself being pulled into his subconscious, where the Kyuubi cage was located.

"Weakling, you are allowing us to die!" The Kyuubi said angrily. Naruto started to look angry, also, before replying,

"Well, I don't know what to do about it!" He yelled, before noticing how close to the cage he was.

"Destroy him with our holy chakra! Why do you think others do not have it? Their bodies will burn in an instant if they were to posess even a fraction of it!" He yelled, before punching Naruto through the bars, off into the distance.

Naruto flew back onto the ground, staring at Sakon. He fell back as if he had been hit, but no one was close enough save Ukon to hit him.

Naruto stood up, before accessing the Kyuubi's chakra, the red chakra forming around Naruto's hand as he performed the shadow-clone symbols. Instantly in a puff of smoke, a clone was there next to him. Naruto held his right hand out, before the clone started going to work, using his hands to help Naruto create a rasengan.

While Naruto was doing all of this, Ukon started to emerge from Naruto's body in nearly solid form, not having the energy to go into the form of vapor, especially when the Kyuubi chakra was burning him like this.

Ukon got out of Naruto, and stumbled towards his brother. The Naruto clone finished the rasengan and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto ran at Ukon, before shoving the rasengan into his back, feeding some of his Kyuubi chakra into it. Ukon's back started burning, and the skin started twisting.

"Sakon!" He screamed, before he went flying, smashing into a tree. He fell to the ground flat on his back, staring into the sky with barely seeing eyes. A loud groan was heard as the tree came crashing down, crushing Ukon.

"Sakura, I got this from here. You go ahead and find Sasuke. Get him to come back with us, before I get there. Because then I'll have to drag him back." Naruto said confidently, pulling out a kunai to square off with Sakon.

Sakura nodded, before jogging to Naruto.

"At least let me assess the damage." She said, placing her hand on Naruto's back and chest. Her hands glowed green, before she took a step back from shock.

"You're completely uninjured. I thought...nevermind." Sakura said, before turning and running off to the plains. Naruto turned back to Sakon, who glared angrily at him.

"What?" Naruto asked, thick-headed as usual. Sakon merely shook his head, before running at Naruto full speed. Naruto dodged a punch aimed for his chest, before receiving one to his gut. Naruto was able to, however, slash Sakon's arm open with the kunai. Upon reflex, he jerked back, landing on his feet. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed, as the wound seemingly healed.

Sakon grinned a savage grin, before saying,

"Oh? You seem surprised. You want to know what's going on? Fine then, trash, I will tell you. Rather than sharing mine or Ukon's body, since that's how we were defeated in the first place, we created a new body. After researching Sasori of the Red Sand out of boredom one day, we discovered a way to make artificial bodies, so now we share a fake body that regenerates all wounds. " Sakon gloated. Naruto stood dumbfounded, before Sakon sighed.

"Idiot, now I'll have to show you." He said, before ripping open his shirt. On his chest, there were multiple screws and seals, showing that it definitely was not a real body. Sakon made one of his arms come out of the chest of the puppet body, rubbing the chest.

"This was our creation, and we would have gone far with this new toy...then you killed Ukon." Sakon said, turning to Naruto bitterly. He closed his ripped shirt, before running at Naruto, who held his kunai up defensively. The puppet arms gripped his forearms, while two fists hit Naruto in the face and gut. Naruto stumbled dazed for a moment, before clearing his head to see Sakon finishing a jutsu.

"Earth Art: Shiva's Rain Jutsu!" Sakon yelled, running to Naruto. Instantly six arms grew from his body, all raining punches down upon Naruto, while Sakon laughed in wicked glee. Naruto started to grow angry from this, the proof being in his eyes. They were starting to turn orange and cat-like, his nails sharpening and his teeth growing incisors.

Sakon failed to notice this change, and paid the price. Naruto delivered a vicious punch to Sakon's face, hearing a satisfying crack. Sakon flew back, before Naruto shook his head. He couldn't get angry like this, it was just the Kyuubi trying to use him again. Well, he wouldn't let it work.

Slowly Naruto's eyes began to go back to their normal color, his nails going back to normal, even his teeth dulling out again.

Sakon stood, a hand resting on his knees as the other rubbed his jaw. Naruto let out a sigh, before a look of urgency came upon his face.

"Ooop! Be right back!" He yelled, as he ran into the woods. Sakon stared cluelessly as Naruto walked back five minutes later, looking relieved.

"Okay, I think I ate some bad ramen, but let's fight!" Naruto said, a confident grin upon his face.

Well folks, that's it. I'm DEFINITELY going to be writing more sometime, I'm just not sure when. School ends this Thursday, so you can most likely expect at least weekly updates. I hope I haven't lost too many of you already.

By the way, if you're a Naruto and Hinata fan, check out a story I've been reading for a while now. It's REALLY long. 

Naruto vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath

This is a story by KingKakashi, and it's really good, I think. Each chapter is about the length of three of my chapters, and there's roughly 49 of them now. 

But anyways, thanks for visiting and remember: More reviews gives me more inspiration to write quicker.

Everyone's Truly,

Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green


	11. Not Drunk This Time!

Angel of the Sand: Chapter 10

Lee circled around Kimimaro smoothly, keeping his eyes locked upon the other. Kimimaro observed in the same fashion, before saying,

"I see you are not injured as you were before. That is good. It wouldn't feel right if I were to win against a handicapped opponent." Kimimaro commented, before his blocked a blow from Rock Lee. It was a swift kick to the midsection, which Kimimaro barely saw coming. Lee responded to the block with a punch with the same arm, which Kimimaro also blocked. Lee jumped back as Kimimaro leaned for to punch him back.

"You are not any weaker than the day we first fought, that is good." Lee replied, keeping his cool as he raised his right arm in front of him again. He ran forward, before shouting, "Leaf Whirlwind!"

He leaped in the air, spinning his leg around to kick Kimimaro in the head. Kimimaro blocked it, but was pushed back a few yards. Lee took this opportunity to attack him from behind. Using his amazing speed, Lee appeared behind Kimimaro, sending him a vicious kick to the back with his right leg. Kimimaro swung his leg around to deliver a roundhouse kick to Lee's left side, causing him to wince.

Lee regained distance between them, holding onto his left ribs for a moment, before shaking off the pain. Lee ran to Kimimaro, his fist outstretched to punch. But rather than hit him, he waited a second for Kimimaro's arms to block the attack. Because he didn't actually hit, he could move his fist down to deliver a punch to Kimimaro's abdomen. If Kimimaro was in pain, he surely didn't show it. He did, however, frown.

"It seems I cannot take you on in my normal form alone. You are indeed, a worthy adversary." Kimimaro said, as his skin started to take a purple pallor. Bones started to jut out from Kimimaro's body at various angles, though the most notable would easily be the ones along his spine that came out a few feet from his body, and those that grew on his newly-formed tail.

Kimimaro knew how skilled Rock Lee, the current "trash" he was fighting was at Taijutsu, so decided to skip straight past level one of his Cursed Mark. One large horn-like bone covered Kimimaro's arm, being twisted to resemble a drill.

"Ten-Digit Drilling Bullets!" Kimimaro said, before running at Lee. Lee narrowly avoided the attack by ducking. He kicked the drill into the air, before sending a rough kick to Kimimaro's chest, putting his hands on the ground as support. He did a back-flip to land on his feet from the prone ground position, before lunging at Kimimaro, who was still recovering from the kick. He tackled Kimimaro, his arms wrapped around the latter's waist as he fell to the ground. Lee used the momentum to flip himself over to the other side of Kimimaro, giving him a chance to get up.

"I see you've gotten very much better, trash, but it's still not enough to defeat me." He said, as his shirt revealed receding bones from where Lee had kicked him. Lee shook his head, before running up to Kimimaro. He poised his hand as if he were making a puppet, before saying, "Snake strikes Bird!"

Lee jabbed Kimimaro in the throat quickly with just the tips of his fingers, causing Kimimaro to take a step back, choking. Lee ran up, used Kimimaro's body as a step-of sorts, seeing as he jumped off of it, before bring his heel straight down into Kimimaro's face. Lee backflipped back, retaining his composure.

"Enough of this play." He said, before saying, "Burrowing 12-Digit Drilling Arm." He shoved the very tip of the bone into the ground. Rock Lee looked around, feeling a violent tremor in the ground, before he noticed the ground rising quickly beneath him. He back-flipped back, just as the drill came out of the ground, where it would have impaled him. He noticed another mound growing as he was in midair, so as soon as he hit the ground he flipped again. Again, he narrowly dodged the drill, and was slightly relieved, before he noticed a drill already emerging from below him. "Wha-?" He wondered, before looking to Kimimaro, who's right foot was also incased in the bone, the bone leading underground also. The drill flew out of the ground, digging into Rock Lee's back, making a small hole, before receding. Lee ungracefully fell to the ground, arching his back.

"This...will not work..." Lee muttered to himself, as he stood up. Kimimaro was about to attack, before Lee said, "Please, hold on a moment." Kimimaro sighed, before stepping back. Lee bent down, and grabbed the orange around his legs. He gripped the weights, before pulling the velcro apart. He dropped it, to where a small crater appeared. He did the same with the other.

Kimimaro's eyes widened in surprise. This whole time he was wearing weights? Then that means..." He wondered in fascination, before Lee nodded. Kimimaro resumed his fighting stance, before he charged at Lee. Lee disappeared in the blink of an eye, already under Kimimaro, sending a foot to his chest, sending him soaring. Lee instantly jumped in the air with Kimimaro, unwrapping the bandage on his arm hastily as he did.

Lee put his arms around Kimimaro's torso, as the bandages wrapped both of them in what felt like a cocoon. The turned upside down, before starting to spin.

"Primary Lotus!" Lee yelled, as Kimimaro's head slammed into the ground. Lee used the impact to flip away, his bandages coming undone instantly. Kimimaro got up, enraged. He shoved both arms into the ground, as bones started to rise out of the ground. Lee remembered this technique from the fight with Gaara. He jumped up, noticing a spike nearly stabbing him. He gripped the area just below the point, swinging himself around on that. He looked at Kimimaro, who came out of the spike next to him.

"It's now or never." Lee said, before sending a kick vicious enough to send Kimimaro flying back, impaling himself upon his own spikes.

"His anger got the best of him..." Lee muttered, as the spikes slowly receded. He walked over to the corpse of Kimimaro, before muttering a silent prayer for the last Kaguya heir. He turned, but collapsed before he could do anything else. His back wound finally got the better of him.

"Guy-sensei...I proved to them...though I don't have any chakra...I'm still just as capable." Lee said in a happy voice, tears glistening in his eyes. He closed his eyes, as he felt what appeared to feel a current of something rushing against his skin.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Hey guys, sorry for the late update. For those of you that are still with me, thanks. I know it's been a long journey so far, and there's not much more to go. I also wanted to say, there won't be a lot of Gaara and Sakura fluff until the end. But don't worry, that's...what, three fights? Oh, wait, none of you know. Whoops.<span>**

**Anyway, in case anybody is interested in X-Men, I will be doing a DeadpoolXSiryn fic next. I put the UlquiHime on the backburner for now.**

**Everyone's Truly,**

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green**


	12. Medic vs CopyNin

Angel of the Sand: Chap. 11

Kakashi glared at Kabuto, the wear from the fight they'd been having evident on both of them, Kakashi having a slightly worn look, Kabuto with many cuts covering his body. Neither one dared to make a move first, watching the other for a trace of hesitancy of any sort. Kakashi abruptly feigned stepping to the right. Kabuto, missing the ploy, dove for him with a chakra scalpel in hand.

Kakashi moved to the right, before shoving the kunai into his side, causing Kabuto to cough blood. Kabuto jumped back, before tsking, then placing his hand to the wound, healing it. He did, after all, consider himself the most advanced medic-nin since Lady Tsunade. Kakashi threw four kunai at Kabuto in a horizontal line, causing Kabuto to jump up. He smirked, before realizing that along with the kunai, Kakashi had also thrown paper bombs into the air. He quickly tried shielding himself with his arms, only to be forced back to the ground.

Kakashi grabbed a smoke bomb from his pouch, which he noticed the contents were dwindling, before throwing it down. Smoke very briefly enveloped the area. After it was clear, Kabuto noticed Kakashi was standing there a few feet away, a hand-sign being formed from his hands, as he smirked. Kabuto looked around for anything different to suggest a jutsu, but came up with none. It was then Kakashi stuck his hand close to the ground, a spark of chakra forming in his palm, the sound of chirping birds coming to Kabuto's mind at the sound.

The blue ball started to grow bigger, before it looked as if lightning was starting to fly off the ball. "Now this is my...Lightning Cutter!" Kakashi said, his voice growing rough. Kabuto smirked, as he knew Kakashi wouldn't be able to hit him from that distance without Kabuto staying stationary.

It's then when a little bit of earth shifted next to his feet, that Kabuto saw hands come out of the ground and grip his ankles. His eyes widened, before realizing Kakashi had formed a shadow clone and was holding him in place. Kakashi smirked, before jogging forward, which quickened into a run. Kabuto flailed violently, trying to escape the vice-grip that was Kakashi's, but to no avail. Kakashi slammed the ball into Kabuto's chest. The only sensation Kabuto had was that of a thousand blades cutting into his chest, with an angelic sound of chirping birds.

Kabuto fell to the ground, his body twitching slightly. He put an arm to his stomach, which was bleeding profusely, the innards nearly visible through a thin wall of membrane. Kabuto's stomach started to heal quickly, amazingly.

"Apparently I need to come up with something stronger to take you out in one hit, hmm?" Kakashi said, almost melancholy. Kabuto stood up, before using a mud style jutsu to create copies of himself, each with a chakra scalpel. Kakashi's eyes widened slightly, before he pulled out his last kunai.

The four Kabuto's ran at Kakashi, who ducked, dived, dodged, and dipped. Neither force was gaining any ground, so Kakashi decided something had to be done. He performed some hand-signs, before putting his hand to his mouth, saying, "Fire Style, Fire Ball Jutsu!"

A large jet of flame flew from Kakashi's fingers, incinerating the clones. One managed to slash Kakashi's left arm before doing so, rendering it useless, as he had damaged a nerve. Kakashi shook himself off, before glaring at Kabuto. Kabuto was doubled over, the use of summoning the clones taxing upon his body. Kakashi stood up straight, before holding his right hand up, performing a Water-Clone Jutsu, one of the few jutsu he knew how to do one-handed.

Kabuto looked up, before sighing. "Very well, we know how this will end. Kill me, Kakashi, if it will help you sleep at night. Know this, I will haunt you every waking moment. You will never be free." he said, smirking.

Kakashi had the clone focus on the chakra points, just like Naruto has his own clone do to create the Rasengan. Once that was done, Kakashi put his hand close to the floor, the swirling ball nearly touching the ground. Sparks started to fly off the ball, but in a pattern that showed it was still also the Rasengan. Kakashi smirked, before saying, "Oh, is that right?" He silently thanked Naruto for the Rasengan technique, which Kakashi had copied, before running at Kabuto, his other arm dangling limp. He shoved the blast full on into Kabuto.

Rather than the ball fly straight through him, the lightening trying to escape from the Chidori-Rasengan started to fly out of Kabuto's body, cooking him from the inside out. Kabuto's body fell to the ground, convulsing from the electricity that was charged into it.

Kakashi took a step back, falling upon his bottom, as he rubbed his head.

"Now that was harder than expected...time to find Naruto."

**So, how was it everyone? **

**Not much to say here. Next we'll be going to Naruto's fight. Mhm, gotta finish Sakon and Uzumaki's fight. Sorry Jirobo fans, I don't exactly like him, and thought it better to bring back Kimimaro. **

**Reviews make me happy.**

**Everyone's Truly, **

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green**


	13. Battle For The Body

Angel of the Sand: Chapter 12

Naruto felt a fist connect with his jaw as he was punched in multiple spots on his body by Sakon, using all of the fists he possessed. Sakon grinned triumphantly, psychotic laughter ringing throughout the air as he did so, his grief over the loss of his brother starting to take toll. But he did not cry, rather, he slowly became another person, psychotic.

Naruto jumped back, breathing heavily. So far, he hadn't been able to land a scratch on Sakon without it being healed. Naruto planted his feet firmly, before performing handsigns for the Shadow Clone technique.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled, six clones appearing out of poofs of smoke. "You know what to do!" He said, as five ran for Sakon. The sixth stayed behind, forming what appeared to be a rasengan on his hand. The ball slowly turned into a disc, which shaped to a square. The points of the square became more pronounced, as it slowly became brighter, and taking on the form of a shuriken. Naruto held it above his head ,as all the clones disappeared. Sakon turned to Naruto, no longer being distracted, before his eyes widened. Naruto shot his arm forward, sending the rasen shuriken flying at Sakon.

Sakon moved to dodge, but wasn't able to make it. The blade slashed through his side, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. The rasen shuriken had cut through the puppet-like body, and reached the sensitive core, which was Sakon. Naruto ran forward quickly, before sending a vicious punch straight for Sakon's jaw. His head twisted around completely like an owl, causing Naruto to miss. Naruto's eyes widened, before Sakon grinned, and slammed his face into Naruto's.

Naruto held his now bleeding nose, falling back onto his bottom. Sakon's forehead had an ugly bruise already forming.

"Trash, why don't you give up? Your companions have all failed, and now there is only you. Sasuke has already killed that pink-haired garbage. Give yourself in, and I promise it will be a swift death." Sakon said, smirking. Naruto's eyes narrowed, before he yelled, "You're lying! I know my friends! They're not weak like you think! They're all capable of taking care of themselves!" He yelled, before realizing their chakra signatures were all gone. Naruto's eyes grew wide, which caused Sakon to laugh.

"As I've said, they're dead. My team-mates have taken care of them. " Sakon said, crossing his arms. Naruto felt a tear slide down his cheek. "No...Neji...Ten-ten...Lee...Sakura..." He said remorsefully. He wouldn't be able to fulfill the promise he had made to her.

Instantly, Naruto regretted everything he had ever done to his partners, never thinking they would die. Neji, the Hyuuga master, had been one of the most prodigious shinobi, now he wouldn't even live to have an heir. Ten-ten was innocent, and never did anything to hurt anyone. Lee was ambitious, and had high goals, but now because of the Sound-nin, he could never reach those goals. And Sakura...his best friend since Sasuke left. They had all died because he wanted to bring back Sasuke.

Naruto clenched his teeth, before feeling a glimmer of hope. Sakura's chakra, it was there, but it was weak. He had to save her. He didn't have time, before Sakon gained the upper hand. He glared at Sakon, the anger from his other comrades falling angering him. "Because of you, my friends will never realize their hopes, their dreams. I have to avenge them. I have to destroy you!" He yelled, his eyes, once again, taking on a reddish hue. The pupil began to change, becoming convex, forming into something resembling a snake's eye. His nails lengthened, and the red chakra started to come from his body, looking as if it were boiling.

Sakon cleared his head of his momentary surprise, before running at Naruto. He aimed three fists at him, but was sent back with a punch to the jaw, hearing it crack. Sakon slammed into the tree Ukon was crushed by, before standing up. He grinned, before he activated his cursed-mark. Slowly, his skin began to become red, a horn growing from the right side of his head where his hair parted. If one were to look at him, they would say he resembled an oni.

Sakon ran at Naruto at a way quicker speed, before raising a fist. Naruto instinctively clawed at Sakon. He dodged out of the way, not able to hit him. He hadn't felt the hit connect, but looking down, he saw a burn mark with four slashes across the puppet body. Sakon realized that he hadn't protected the body against burns, and only slashes would heal. He took a step back, before performing a few handsigns. "Body Stretch Technique: Ghost Hits!" He called, before he took a step forward, three fists in the air as if he were punching something. The fists all stretched, headed straight for Naruto. Naruto grabbed one, and yanked on it, pulling Sakon to him. The other three connected, but were immediately burned by the chakra.

Naruto brought back a fist, before slamming it into Sakon's face, feeling his face cave in and crush his brain. Naruto dropped the now-dead Sakon on the ground. Naruto gripped his head, as if in pain.

"I can't...let...the Kyuubi win!" A small voice, the voice of Naruto, called from within his head. The Kyuubi merely responded with, "I can offer you ultimate power, vessel." Naruto looked torn, before his voice spoke up again. "He lies. He'll leave and terrorize villages. What about Sakura...?"

It was then that Naruto knew what he needed to do. Quickly, the chakra went back inside of him, and his body changed back to normal. He looked at the crumpled form of Sakon, before shuddering and running towards Sakura's quickly-fading chakra.

**Well, there it is. Guys, I have to say, I'm disappointed. I only got, what two reviews last chapter? I have to say, if there's no more coming in, then I'm gonna discontinue the story. So please, if you care about the story at all, review? :D**

**Everyone's Truly, **

**Kilik**


	14. Encounter

Angel of the Sand: Chap. 13

Sakura kept jogging forward, not daring to look back for fear that she would see Naruto getting hurt. Naruto was strong, though, right? She should have more faith in him. After all, even after she had been obsessed with Sasuke to the point of asking him to risk his own life to bring him back, Naruto still believed in her.

Sakura came to a stop atop a small hill overlooking a valley ahead of her. She put her hands on her knees and bent over, panting from running so far. She saw the glint of something shiny off in the distance, before realizing it was a figure. She walked forward slowly, before gasping in surprise at what she saw.

Sasuke.

He was there off in the distance, his katana partially drawn, seemingly to attract her attention. Sakura stood up straight, squaring her shoulders and keeping her back straight to appear more intimidating. She blinked, before realizing that he was gone. Her brow furrowed as she looked, before hearing a voice.

"Hello, Sakura. Did you miss me?" The tone was mocking. Sakura jumped from shock, before turning to look behind her. There stood Sasuke, his angry eyes red as ever, now with the mangekyou sharingan. "S-Sasuke." Sakura said, before shaking her head, regaining her composure.

"Sasuke, we're giving you one chance to come back. Please...We need you back at Konoha." Sakura pleaded, a tone of desperation in her voice. Sasuke merely turned his back, and walked forward a few steps, before turning back. "I can't..." He said softly, before adding, "It's too late. Konoha is just another small step on the path to vengeance. I don't have anything there left, anymore." Sasuke said, turning back around. "Now, I'll give you one chance to turn back, Sakura. As an old member of the Squad, I'm showing you mercy. Now go, before I have to kill you." He said coldly, glaring at her.

Sakura's eyes widened, as she shook her head. "No, that's not true. You can come back! They'll let you, I know they will!" Sakura said, getting more desperate by the moment. Sasuke shook his head, before increasing his glare. "No, Sakura. Now leave, or die. I only came here to finish Naruto. I won't hurt you unless need be." He said, his sharingan spinning dangerously.

Sakura hung her head, her hair covering her eyes. "Then I guess we'll just have to bring you back...a corpse..." She said, before snapping her head up and running at him, chakra already pumping in her fist.

Sakura swung dangerously, narrowly hitting Sasuke. The wind from the force of the punch made his hair fly back. Sasuke stopped himself after a few feet, before performing hand-signs for a well-known Uchiha jutsu.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" He yelled, putting his fingers to his mouth, as a jet of flame flew from his mouth, towards Sakura where it started forming a ball. Sasuke let up on the flames, standing back to watch, making sure he killed her. When the flames dissipated, all that was remaining was a charred log of wood. Sasuke's eyes widened as he turned in time for a fist to connect with his jaw.

Sasuke flew back a few yards, landing on his feet, bracing himself with one hand. Sasuke stood up straight, putting a hand to his jaw. He winced as he felt it snap as he put it back in place, opening and closing his mouth to make sure it worked right. "That's one mean punch you've got, Sakura." He commented, before he put his hand to the ground, resting his other palm on the wrist closest to the ground.

Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing. She started focusing as much chakra in her legs as she could, attempting to form a sort of defence.

A ball of blue formed in Sasuke's hand, crackling with the sound of chirping. Eventually chakra resembling lightning started to fly off the ball, signaling it was ready. Sasuke started walking forward, turning it into a jog, and finally a run. Sakura lifted her foot in retaliation, slamming it down on the ground just before he got to her. Sasuke reached his arm out to hit her. As her foot slammed against the ground, a wall of earth flew up, effectively blocking the attack.

Sasuke snarled, before activating his first cursed-mark form. A flame-like pattern grew on his skin, as a small explosion of chakra was released. Sakura gasped, and before she knew it, Sasuke had thrown a knee to her chest. The impact caused the breath to fly from her lungs, and she almost certainly felt a rib crack.

Sasuke stepped back, watching as she fell to her hands and knees, clutching her abdomen. "Sakura...you should listen more." He said, pulling out his katana, holding it in the reverse grip. "Now, I'm going to have to end this." he said emotionlessly, walking over to her. He flipped her over with his foot, pressed a foot to her neck so she stayed on the ground. He raised his katana, before bringing it down.

**Hey, sorry for the short chapter.**

**Wow, when you guys review, you REALLY review. I think last chapter I may have gotten up to eight reviews. THAT makes me happy. **

**Sorry for a short chapter, but I guarantee next chapter will be WAY longer. Everything has just been to build anticipation so far. **

**So read and review, so I'll be motivated to write more faster. **

**-Everyone's Truly,**

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green **


	15. Demon of the Sand vs Cursed Heir

**Angel of the Sand: Chapter 14**

Sasuke frowned, seeing a wall of sand blocking his katana. He looked around, before spotting a cloaked figure in the distance, with what appeared to be a hump on his back. As the figure got closer, Sasuke noticed a pare of piercing jade eyes, staring as if they could peer into his soul. He slowly brought his katana back, putting it in the sheath. "Sabaku no Gaara. How nice of you to join us." He sneered, staring.

Gaara ripped the cloak off, revealing himself in his red suit, with the sash around his waist, and the gourd on his back. He crossed his arms, walking forward. Over the years, it was obvious he had been busy. Along with being Kazekage, the pure fitness of his body showed off his constant training, in order to better himself. Secretly, it was because he wanted to be able to protect Sakura, but to anybody else, it would seem that he just wanted to be a strong Kage**.**

"Uchiha Sasuke...get away from her." He said, which changed Sasuke's demeanor entirely. He was still bitter about his defeat at the hand of the Sand user, and would go to any length to hurt him. "Oh, you mean her? Why? I thought you loved killing. Why shouldn't I finish her now?" He asked rhetorically, before pulling out his katana again. "Or maybe you just like their screams. Here, how's this?" he asked hollowly, as he brought down the katana, piercing Sakura through her shoulder. Gaara's eyebrow twitched, as his sand started encircling Sasuke.

"One more move like that, and I will kill you. I know how much you mean to Naruto...and Sakura..." He added sadly, before saying, "So I am willing to take you alive. Do not think I will hesitate to kill you, however." He said, his black-rimmed eyes locking with Sasuke's sharingan eyes.

Sasuke scoffed, before saying, "Gaara, I am a lot stronger now. I doubt you could kill me." he said, which made Gaara reply with, "Well then, what say we put that to the test?" He asked, as his sand moved Sakura out of the way. Sasuke nodded, taking up a fighting style with his katana in a reverse grip. "You go first." Gaara said, to which Sasuke smirked.

Sasuke disappeared, his speed halfway rivaling that of Lee's. Gaara's eyes widened, before he looked behind him. Sasuke kicked Gaara into the air, before jumping up quickly. He slammed a foot down on Gaara's chest, causing him to crash to the ground, creating a small crater.

When Sasuke fell to the ground, he looked into the hole, shocked to see that Gaara had been a sand clone, now crumbling apart. He turned around, in time to see a long tendril of sand coming at him, grabbing him by the throat, lifting him, then slamming him down into the hole. Another large ball of sand lay behind the tendril, but now it, too, rose out of the air and filled the hole, burying Sasuke.

Gaara smirked, turning his back. He was shocked when he felt his sand moving, and a hand emerge from the ground. Sasuke pulled himself out of the sand, looking bruised, and a little bloody, but otherwise alright.

"Gaara, it's going to take a lot more than that to finish me." he said, as he activated the first form of his cursed mark. Gaara nodded, as the sand popped the top off the gourd on his back. He had been using the sand in the dirt around him, releasing chakra from his body to activate it, but as it was, he needed the sand that already had his chakra in it to perform any jutsu.

Sasuke performed the fire-style hand symbols in the blink of an eye, before raising his hand to his lips. "Fire Style: Flamethrower Jutsu." A jet of flame erupted from his mouth, so hot it was a bright white color. Gaara's sand raised to protect him, and did it's job for the most part. Due to the intense heat of the jutsu, the sand turned to glass and flew towards him, impaling him and scratching him repeatedly.

For all of these flesh wounds, Gaara did not flinch. Instead, sand dug into his body, and pushed the glass out. The sand went in, and actually covered the wound, stopping blood flow. Gaara smirked, before asking, "Is that all you've got?" He jumped into the air, before performed his own hand-signs.

"Wind Style: Sand Erosion Jutsu." At this, the rest of his sand emerged from the gourd, and began pounding mercilessly at the terrain, sucking the moisture out of the soil and loosening it up, turning it into a sandy substance. By the time Gaara fell to the ground, the terrain had become like a desert with a more mild climate.

"So you're turning the terrain to your advantage, okay." Sasuke commented, before planting his feet firmly, about to spring into the air. He was surprised, when the sand was wrapped around his foot, slowly crawling up his leg.

Sakura watched in awe as Gaara's sand covered Sasuke entirely, forming a large cocoon seemingly floating in the air. Gaara's hand, which was open and flipped upside down, slowly flipped right-side up, before he closed his hand, saying, "Sand Coffin." Rather than the sand get smaller and constrict, it flew away as if there had been an explosion, leaving Sasuke there, wings outspread as he was in his second cursed-mark form.

"Not good enough." He said demonically, as he charged at Gaara with dual chidori in his hands.


	16. Closure

Angel of the Sand: Chapter 15

Gaara smirked, as he performed a few hand signs, watching the dual-chidori-wielding Sasuke charge at him. He stood there in that position, waiting for Sasuke to get closer. When Sasuke was within 15 feet of him, Gaara slapped the ground with both palms, causing a wave of sand to go flying at Sasuke, which turned pointed as they got closer, to where they impaled him.

Sasuke grunted, but continued flapping his wings, breaking through the sand. He put so much effort into escaping the sand that he had lost one of his chidori. He reached out, eyes widening when he almost hit Gaara and a tendril of sand wrapped around him. Doing anything to land a hit, Sasuke seemingly tossed the chidori, which hit Gaara in the stomach. It didn't injure him as if it were to be shoved into him, but it still injured him nonetheless.

From the chakra of the chidori, Gaara flew back a few feet, staying on his toes to avoid falling down. He fell to one knee after a moment, breathing heavily. He was running to his mid-point on chakra, so needed to start conserving it.

Sasuke smirked, unsheathing his katana again, walking to Gaara. "Too easy..." He grinned, before his eyes widened. He turned around, and backhanded Sakura immediately, who had been behind him and plunged a kunai into his back. Sasuke reached for it with one hand, but found he couldn't reach it. Sakura flew a few feet away, struggling for breath.

Sasuke looked angrily at Sakura, walking forward. "I wasn't planning on killing you at first, but now, you've infuriated me." He said. Gaara silently thanked Sakura, and started pulling more chakra from what pieces he had left of Shukaku. Sakura got up, but not without falling back down a few times. She stood in front of Sasuke, her hand on her arm, as she glared at him.

She spit blood at his feet, one eye swollen shut as she glared back at him. Sasuke quickly ran to her, raising his blade again. But in the blink of an eye, Gaara had gotten to where she was, materializing from the sand at their feet. He performed hand-signs for a wind style jutsu, as he was known for. You could tell this technique was practiced a lot, due to the fact that even the Sharingan had trouble keeping up with the hand-signs.

"Wind Style: Sand Vortex Jutsu." He said emotionlessly, as a large funnel of sand appeared behind Sasuke, churning quicker and quicker, starting to suck him in. Sasuke reached out to grab Gaara or Sakura, but was too far. The vortex was not to damage Sasuke, merely pull him away. Although, if performed right, and with another jutsu added, it could become very deadly. When Sasuke got sucked in, the vortex stopped spinning, just falling to the ground.

Gaara performed even more hand-signs, before saying, "Wind Style: Desert Angel Technique." Gaara clapped once, before spreading his arms wide. Two large tendril of sand flocked to Gaara's back, forming what appeared to be large wings, each 25 feet in length. Gaara smirked, looking at Sasuke, before saying, "This is but one part of the true technique."

Long tendrils of sand flew up and wrapped around Sasuke, acting like chains to keep him held still. "This is the end, Sasuke Uchiha." He said, as the wings stretched out even farther. "Wind Style: Divine Retribution, Sand Clap." With that, the wings started flying towards Sasuke in an arc, meeting together right where Sasuke was. Not only that, the closed with a thunderous clap.

Gaara fell to his knees, exhausted. Now he had no more chakra at all. He looked to Sakura who was smiling at him, as if she had seen an angel. She started to sway a bit, prompting Gaara to run over to her, catching her before she fell, even though she wouldn't get hurt very much due tot he ground being made of sand.

Sakura looked at Gaara, her eyes just starting to show the signs that she was slipping into unconsciousness. "I knew you'd come for me..." She smiled, caressing his face. "My angel of the sand..." She cooed, before slipping into unconsciousness fully. Gaara stood up, his energy renewed. He needed to get her somewhere safe. He immediately started charging through the desert, to where he got to the forest. He passed multiple people along the way, most notably Naruto, who was still running toward the direction Sasuke was in.

He kept running, not bothering to stop. He found he also passed the permanently dead Kimimaro, and Rock Lee, who was unconscious, with Kakashi grabbing him to take him back. Gaara also passed Neji, standing over the corpse of Tayuya, who's body lay before an unconscious Ten-ten. He grit his teeth a bit. Today, for sure, would not be forgotten, by any of them.

Gaara ran both day and night to get to Konoha as fast as he could, making it there almost as fast as if Guy were jogging to get there. (Which is pretty damn fast.) He took her immediately to the hospital, not even stopping to get clearance from the guards. He went to the hospital, where he started yelling at the Medic in charge at the moment to get Sakura some help.

They hastily took Sakura from his hands, taking her into the Emergency Room.


	17. Future Comings

Angel of the Sand: Chapt. 16

Gaara wrung his hands, standing outside of the waiting room. He'd had a doctor tell him not too long ago that Sakura's injuries were very serious, and that if she had gotten there any later, then she would have most likely died.

Unable to stand sitting anymore, Gaara stood up and began to pace, hands behind his back, and staring at the floor. The doctor's had told him the extent of the injuries, which were broken ribs, a punctured lung, multiple bruises, breaks, and fractures, along with the stab wound delivered to her shoulder.

The injuries made Gaara even angrier, and happier at the same time. Angry at himself for not getting to Sakura in time to prevent all of this, and glad that he had killed Sasuke. After all, the Uchiha heir deserved no less, for not only betraying his village, but also his friends. That, to Gaara, was unforgivable. A surgeon came out of the operating room. He was fairly young, with dark skin, his eyes, however, made him look older than he really was.

"Kazekage-sama..." He began, untying the top tie to the mouth cover, so he could breath fresh air. Gaara glared at him for a moment, waiting for him to continue. The surgeon gulped, before saying, "She will live." Gaara breathed out a sigh of relief, looking back to the surgeon when he continued. "She will, however, need to stay here for the next week. Her injuries were very bad, and although she will not scar, we need to keep her here so we can keep an eye on her vitals and statistics."

Gaara nodded understandingly, before asking, "Am I allowed to see her?" The surgeon nodded, taking his gloves off, and looking down at the blood stain on his green scrubs. "Yes, you may. However, we've just given her a shot of anesthesia. She will most likely not be conscious." Gaara nodded, before making a shooing motion with his hands.

The surgeon nodded, walking out. Gaara walked into the room, looking at Sakura. She looked so broken, so frail, hooked up to multiple tubes and wires. He walked over, his cold and angry facade falling, replacing it was a look of worry, concern, and even deeper, sadness. He walked over, moving a stray piece of hair off her forehead.

Gaara hesitated, bending over, and kissing her cheek. He felt a tugging in his stomach, before coming to the realization that perhaps, he liked her more than a friend. The feeling confused him, leaving an odd look on his face as he stood up straight. He stroked her cheek with his hand, before hearing a cough behind him. He turned around to see the Hokage herself, Lady Tsunade, along with her assistant, Shizune.

"Lady Tsunade." Gaara said, bowing respectively. Tsunade bowed in return, before addressing him. "Kazekage-sama." They both straightened up, before Tsunade walked over to Sakura. "Kazekage Gaara, I would like to ask a favor of you..." Tsunade started, which earned her Gaara's attention. Even being the same status as him, she still couldn't help but feel a bit of fear in those cold, lonely eyes.

Tsunade began to continue. "Sakura...might not make a full recovery. She has many friends here, but...you're her closest friend, I'm sure. I've seen some of the letters you two pass back and forth...so I think it's in her best interest to live in Suna for two weeks. Just until she gets better, emotionally and physically." Gaara thought for a moment, before nodding. It wasn't a bad idea. Plus, it'd give them time to talk about what went on, provided Sakura was emotionally ready.

"Very well." Gaara stated, turning to leave. "I'll leave you with her for now. Shall I go pick up her things?" Gaara inquired, getting a nod from Tsunade, before saying, "Very well. I refuse to pack her clothes, however." Tsunade chuckled, remembering for a moment that Gaara was still only as old as Sakura herself, before saying, "Fine. I'll have Ino pack up her clothes. It'd be hardly proper for a Kage to go snooping through a shinobi's underwear drawer anyway."

Gaara blushed crimson, before walking away, muttering to himself about women.

Later That Week...

Gaara flopped on the mattress of the Special Guests Quarters of the hotel. He was tired, but even with the Shukaku gone, he wasn't getting very much sleep lately. He turned on his back, glaring as he saw a head peeking in from the window. The window flew open with a slap from a sand tendril, slamming into the face of the intruder. Gaara heard a satisfying crunch, then a thump. "What the heck was that for?" He heard the only person he knew that was that neurotic yell. Gaara sighed, before standing up. He knew it was Naruto, so he might as well go greet his friend.

Gaara walked to the window, staring down at a bleeding Naruto. "I said, what was that for?" He yelled at Gaara, who shrugged, before saying, "I didn't know who you were. You could have been a trained assassin." he said, smirking. Naruto glared, before standing up. "You know, normal people would have taken the door." Gaara said, staring at Naruto. A vein nearly busted on Naruto's head, who just answered, "Alright! I get it! It was my fault! You happy?" Gaara looked at him blankly, before saying, "Yes."

Naruto sighed, before saying, "Look, tomorrow, when Sakura leaves, we're all going to give her a goodbye party. You in?" Gaara contemplated this. He visited her a few times every day, so maybe she would be tired of him by then. Perhaps he shouldn't go, but then again, what if she wanted him to go? What if she wasn't even ready to face her friends?

"Perhaps." Gaara answered, before saying, "Well, I'm going to sleep. Leave. I may mistake you for a burglar again." Naruto went wide-eyed, before running to his house. "This little piggy went wee-wee-wee, all the way home." Gaara muttered the little saying mother's often told their children to himself. He crawled in his bed, pulling the cover's up.

"Goodnight, Sakura." Gaara said.

In the hospital, a sleeping Sakura muttered, "Goodnight...Gaara..."

**Sorry about the filler chapter, I just needed to do a little time-skip, but I didn't want to leave you in the dark completely. I'm not sure how much longer this will be...I'd say another five chapters at most. Perhaps two minimum? I don't know. Give me suggestions in your reviews and reasons, and perhaps I'll do it. **

**As always,**

**Everyone's Truly, **

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green**


	18. Bonding Time?

Angel of the Sand: Chapt. 17

Gaara stood at the gates, waiting for Sakura. All of her friends were there, excluding the now-deceased Sasuke. Gaara almost felt bad for killing him, but he had injured Sakura, his own team mate. No, after that kind of betrayal, he didn't deserve to live. Gaara looked behind him, seeing Sakura hugging Naruto and Hinata, tears in her eyes.

He felt bad, but after the fifteen minutes she had had with Sasuke Uchiha, Inoichi Yamanaka, the village's expert mental health specialist, suspects that she has undergone some sort of emotional trauma, and needs some sort of emotional support, which could be Naruto or Gaara, seeing as those two were her next closest friends. Fearing she wouldn't get much from Naruto, seeing as he was so caught up in the Hyuuga Heiress, Lady Tsunade had asked if she be allowed to live with Gaara in Suna.

Naturally, Gaara had accepted, if it meant helping one of his second closest friends. He shifted his apathetic gaze to their teacher, Kakashi Hatake, who was to be accompanying them there, and then return. He didn't feel the need for the silver-haired jounin, but the Hokage had insisted. It would be Konoha's head if Gaara were to die on his way to Suna. (Which it wasn't very likely he'd find an enemy he couldn't defeat.)

Gaara crossed his arms, turning when he noticed Naruto walking his way. Naruto smiled a little, unable to hide the sadness that was in his eyes.

"Take care of her, okay? I can tell she's fragile right now...she needs someone strong." Naruto said softly, gesturing to Sakura. Gaara's gaze softened, seeing the concern Naruto had for his team-mate.

"I will, Naruto. I promise." He said, extending his right arm. Naruto did the same, grasping each other's forearms in a handshake. Naruto nodded, turning. He walked back to Hinata, putting his arm around the crying woman's waist. Sakura said something, before walking to the Jounin and Kazekage.

"Are we all ready?" She asked, trying to be cheerful. It was obvious Sakura didn't want to leave her friends, but it was in her best interest. Gaara nodded, turning to Kakashi, who put his book away. He nodded. They all walked out of the Gates, before taking off in the woods.

They jumped through the tree's from limb to limb for hours, silence being their only company besides each other. Sometimes Gaara would look back at Sakura to see how she was faring, becoming slightly depressed to see she didn't look terribly happy, occasionally spotting a tear on her face. His gaze became slightly sadder each time, before returning to his stoic self after he turned away. When it came to be nightfall, Kakashi, who was in front of them, signaled them to stop.

"Okay, in seven hours, we'll be there, but I think it'd be best to camp for the night." He said, shrugging off the pack on his back full of supplies for the night. He pulled out three bedrolls, which had been rolled up tight enough to take up little more space than a forearm. He tossed a red and black sleeping bag to Gaara, giving Sakura a pink-colored one, keeping the silver one for himself.

Kakashi walked over to a small clearing a couple of yards away, arranging rocks to form a circle.

"Gaara, I know this task is demeaning for a Kazekage, but would you mind getting firewood?" He asked, his lone eye crinkling in nervousness. Gaara nodded, looking up at the branches, his arms crossed. The plug in his gourd popped off, sand starting to stream out, sweeping up stick and bringing them back, depositing them on the ground before retreating into the gourd.

Kakashi chuckled, before pulling out a flint and steel, using it to set fire to some twigs in the center of the stone pit. He pulled out cooking ingredients, preparing a mediocre stew.

After a couple of hours, the two members of Team 7 and the Kazekage had eaten, and were now settling down for sleep. After a half an hour, a voice whispered in the dark.

"Gaara?" Sakura asked, wanting to see if he was still awake.

"Yes?" he asked, wide awake.

"Can I come over there?" She asked, fright evident in her voice. Gaara sighed, before giving her the okay. He heard a shuffling, before feeling Sakura's breath on the side of his neck. He sighed, sitting up against the tree that was behind him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Sakura sat up against the tree, also, sighing.

"I just...I don't want to be alone." She admitted, placing her hand over Gaara's own hand, leaning on his shoulder. Gaara stiffened at the contact, before slowly relaxing. Nobody ever touched him like this. Whether it was the gesture of a friend or not, he couldn't tell, since he wasn't all that experienced with women. All he knew was that it was odd, but comforting at the same time. Within moments, he sensed that she had fallen asleep, and so closed his eyes himself, waiting for sleep to overcome him.

**So...I'm possibly thinking about discontinuing this story. I'm getting little to no reviews, and I feel this story is just plain terrible. If anyone disagrees, put it in a review, and I MAY continue it. There's still so much more to it, but I'm not going to bother writing if nobody reads it.**

**Anyways, check out my MUCH BETTER UlquiHime, Bat Out Of Hell. It's WAY better written than this shoddy piece of...fiction. lol There's also some hinted GrimmNel. BUT, we'll just have to wait and see. **


	19. Home Sweet Home

Angel of The Sand: Chapter 18

Gaara sighed wearily. The moment they had gotten to Suna earlier this morning, Kakashi had taken off, leaving Gaara to deal with Sakura. He showed her to the room she would be staying in, and even helped her unpack. The whole while, it seemed she wanted to start moaning for the Uchiha again. He had killed him. Shouldn't she be over it, by now?

Currently, Gaara was sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper to catch up on recent events. Sakura was sitting in the chair across from him in the living room, just staring at the ceiling. "Do you think he's still alive?" Sakura asked, a little hope in her voice. Where her sudden need for Sasuke came from, Gaara didn't know, but if it was a person, he would not hold himself back.

"No. He is dead." Gaara said coldly. He had felt every last organ and bone break inside of the Uchiha's body, through his sand. It killed Gaara to know she thought so much about the Uchiha. She was his first friend ever, and it seemed she cared more about a dead man than him. Sakura groaned, causing Gaara to turn the page. It must have been a little too hard, because the page ripped. He grabbed it, and threw it on the ground, not in the mood to deal with it.

"What's your problem?" Sakura asked, turning her gaze to Gaara. Her gaze was dead, a thought that scared Gaara a little. He stood up, muttering a "nothing", before walking to the kitchen, pulling down various things to make a sandwich.

"When is Temari getting here?" Sakura asked. Gaara, relieved that it wasn't another word about Sasuke, sighed in relief.

"She'll be here tomorrow morning." Gaara said, shoving the rest of the sandwich in his mouth. "I'm going to take a shower and go to bed." He said, walking upstairs to his bedroom, going to the adjoining bathroom and turning the shower on.

"What's his problem...?" Sakura wondered absentmindedly. She went upstairs, sighing. She'd miss Sasuke, and by the way Gaara acted whenever she mentioned him, it was obvious he didn't like the Uchiha Heir. But, then again, he HAD tried to kill her. It was time to get over him. Besides, she was there with Gaara, and Gaara was a better person than Sasuke had ever been. Besides, it was obvious how much he needed a friend. Sakura was SUPPOSED to be there for him, she promised she would when she was younger.

She'd have to make up for all of those years. It was obvious he trusted her more than the others, but she still wasn't at his heart yet. Besides, for some odd reason she couldn't place, she WANTED Gaara to like her. In fact, she liked him. Maybe more than she cared to admit, but those feelings would be dealt with later.

Sighing, Sakura stood up. She walked upstairs to the other bathroom, the one that wasn't conjoined to any other rooms. She walked in, turning on the shower. All she needed was a nice, warm shower to clear her mind.

Upon turning the shower off, Gaara quickly dried his hair, walking out into the hallway in a pair of drawstring pants. He walked up to Sakura's room, knocking softly. When he didn't receive a reply, he slowly opened the door, looking in. He opened the door all the way, walking in. He shut it behind him, as he noticed a picture. He walked over, sitting down. It was during the Chuunin exams, after he had fought Naruto and Sasuke.

It was Sakura standing next to his hospital bed, with a nearly-smiling Gaara laying there. She had said it was so she could remember him clearly. Gaara looked up, hearing the door knock. He stood up abruptly, about to say something to Sakura, who had just walked in wrapped in a towel.

"Sak-" He started, but couldn't finish. She had hastily thrown off the towel, walking to the dresser to get clothes when she noticed him.

"Gaara...well...hi..." She said, stopping what she was doing, staring directly at him. Her face turned red, as she realized she was naked, but still in too much shock to do anything. Gaara felt extremely uncomfortable, and said the first thing that popped to mind.

"Umm, well...how about this weather...?" He asked nervously. Sakura smiled nervously.

"Yeah...it's pretty cool for Suna. I didn't know that although Suna was a desert, it was one of the cold ones." She said nervously.

"Yeah. You are pretty cold, aren't you?" he asked, a devilish smirk crawling up his face. Sakura looked down, noticing that her chest was uncovered and her nipples had hardened a bit. She picked her towel up, walking closer to him.

"Well, it is a bit chilly. Maybe if someone were to help warm me up...?" She purred, covering herself and getting next to him. Gaara gulped, nervous himself all of a sudden.

Without warning, the door flew open. "What the hell?" Temari yelled out, seeing the two. Gaara hadn't been expecting her this early. They all stared at each other for a moment, before Sakura noticed she had practically been sitting in Gaara's lap. How she had gotten there, neither of them could remember.

"Well, I need to get dressed and everything..."

"Yeah, yeah. I need to...um...Temari! What are you doing here so early?" Gaara asked, changing the subject as he walked out.

"WELL, if you hadn't been canoodling with Sakura, you would have received the messenger hawk I had sent." She said, rather angrily.

"Don't give me that. I did NOT expect that to happen." Gaara said, getting huffy.

"Whatever." Temari scoffed. In truth, she was glad that she was able to have small arguments like this with Gaara, where a few years ago he would have killed her without a glance.

"I'm going to made." Gaara said, irritated.

"Fine. Well I'm going to my room and going to bed." Temari retorted.

"Fine."

"Good."


	20. Catching Up With The Past

**A/N: Okay, I think this is going to be the second to last chapter. I've been editing the story a bit recently, so in the next month, I should have it fully fixed of any grammatical mistakes and such. Thanks for all that stuck with me, and thank you even more to those who have reviewed. So in celebration, I think you all should review for me. That'd be AWESOME. Especially since I didn't get ANY reviews last chapter. **

Angel of the Sand: Chapter 19

Gaara sat up, rubbing his eyes wearily. He pulled back the covers, standing up and walking to his closet. He opened it, grabbing pants and shirt. He put his pants on, and started to walk out of the room. He put his shirt on as he went downstairs, stopping to listen for Sakura or Temari occasionally. Kankuro was a slacker, so he would take all the time he could getting back. Although he would probably be back today.

Gaara grabbed some fruit, that being his breakfast, before he went back upstairs to fetch his gourd and sash. Tying them onto his back, he walked outside, going to the Kazekage's office, his office.

Sakura woke up as she heard the front door of the mansion shut. She sat up, beginning her daily routine of brushing her teeth, dressing, and stretching. She went downstairs, finding a note Gaara had left her.

_Sakura, _

_I had to go into work today. Help yourself to anything in the mansion. BESIDES my room. _

_Gaara_

_Sakura sighed, looking in the fridge. What she saw amazed her. Other than the occasional piece of fruit, there was nothing in there. It was time to go shopping for the redhead, she decided. Maybe then she'd be able to finally figure out her feelings for him._

_Gaara sat at his desk, clearly annoyed. Today, a group of raiders had decided to pick Suna to attack. He listened to the slightly injured Jounin describe the methods they used to defeat the Suna nin, that way he had an advantage. Since his Jounin couldn't handle the force, it appeared it was up to Gaara himself to do it. _

_"Enough." He growled to the Jounin, standing up. He pulled his gourd on his back, before saying, "Get Kankuro over here to help." He could feel through the sand that his brother was back, so decided to let him in on the "mission" since he was late. He closed his eyes, his body swirling into sand. He had a little trouble tracking the two, but was still able to find them in a matter of minutes. _

_Gaara stared at the two, clearly expecting more. One was a man with spiked-up hair, a brownish color, and was very large. The other was a rather thin, sickly looking man with teeth resembling a shark's. _

_"So this is the runt that killed Sasuke, huh?" The smaller of the two asked, pulling out a bottle of water, taking a long drink. The taller of the two merely nodded. Gaara crossed his arms, clearly not impressed. He saw a large sword strapped to the back of the smaller, silver-haired man, but the bigger one looked like he carried no weapons. _

_"Let me at him! Orochimaru may actually pay me if we can get his head." the smaller man said, pulling out the large cleaver, swinging it at Gaara. He was surprised when a wall of sand came up to block his strike. His eyes widened, as he took a step back._

_"Suigetsu, you'll die if you fight him head-on. This is Sabaku no Gaara. He has complete mastery over sand." Jugo said casually, uncrossing his own arms. Gaara turned his head Jugo's way, about to send a torrent of sand around Jugo's feet when all of a sudden he disappeared. Gaara pulled all of the sand to his skin, creating armor, as he anticipated the attack. _

_A large fist swung from behind Gaara nearly hitting him. A long tendril of sand rose up, grasping Jugo's wrist. Gaara took a few steps forward, turning. The sand that had blocked the cleaver now reared, poised like a snake preparing to strike. It flew forward, meeting the steel of the cleaver as Suigetsu had turned it so the sand would impact with the flat side. _

_Jugo ripped his arm from the sand, yelling at Suigetsu. "We have to go for him at the same time. Otherwise, we're doomed." He said, running for Gaara. Suigetsu ran over to Gaara also, jumping above him, his cleaver falling down in an arc. Jugo, on the other hand, had stopped directly beside Gaara sending a fist to his face. _

_Gaara pulled his arms apart, his hand poised into one hand sign in specific. Jugo's fist met with Gaara's jawbone, while Suigetsu's cleaver went straight through Gaara's head. Oddly enough, there was no blood from either. Instead, sand leaked out of the clone._

_"Damn, it's a trap!" He yelled, turning in time to see Gaara off in the distance, his hands raised above him. Gaara brought his hands down, slapping the ground. Although the distance was a good few yards, the ground underneath Suigetsu and Jugo threw them into the air like dolls. Gaara made spikes form from the sand, so it would land right below them. _

_Suigetsu dug his cleaver into the ground, using it to balance, so he didn't fall on the spikes, instead flinging his body weight to the side so he flew at Gaara. Gaara lost concentration seeing Suigetsu fly towards him, making the spikes fall. Gaara brought sand up to block, but was too slow. The sand absorbed the brunt of the hit, although the cleaver still managed to sink into his ribs. _

_Narrowing his eyes, Gaara held his hand out towards Suigetsu, his palm open. Sand quickly crawled around the fish man's body, causing him to panic. "Jugo!" He called out, fearing death. Jugo got up, and started running. He tripped as a tendril caught his leg. He felt the sand shift, and looked behind him. A whirpool started forming, spinning violently, as the tendril brought Jugo down into the middle._

_Within minutes, the whirlpool was up to his chest. Underneath, the sand was churning so violently that it would grind whatever it touched much like a blender, his feet having been the first victims. He roared in pain, trying to enter his curse-marked form, but found he didn't have the energy. He watched helplessly as Suigetsu was entirely covered, the sand forming a large cocoon._

_Gaara turned his hand so it was right-side up, forming a fist and squeezing. A shrill scream was heard, before blood flew out everywhere like rain. Jugo sighed, knowing they couldn't win this battle. "Please, make it quick." He whispered, seeing Gaara look his way._

_The sand master nodded, the whirpool stopping. Instead a giant hand made of sand grew out of the ground beside Jugo, raising itself higher and higher, before slamming down, crushing what would have been the last member of Team Taka, had Sasuke not been killed before he could kill Orochimaru._

_Gaara took a step towards the city, before everything turned black for him. _


	21. End

**A/N: I can't believe this is the last chapter...WOW. I have to say, I feel pretty accomplished. As a goodbye gift, a bunch of reviews may not be bad, ne? Anyway, check out my other Fanfic, if you're a Bleach fan. It's an UlquiHime, and WAY better written than this one. **

**Oh, and thank you, everyone, who reviewed last chapter. (Which was NO ONE.)**

Angel of the Sand: Chapter 20

Gaara's eyes fluttered, feeling something warm on his face. He opened his eyes, looking around. He was met with a bright emeral, and carnation pink. When his vision became less blurry, he noticed that it was Sakura who was leaning extremely close to him. Was she...crying? Why would she be crying?

"Hold on, Gaara. I'm going to fix you." She said, smiling slightly. Gaara winced, remembering the gash Suigetsu had given him. Gaara thought for a moment. He had died before, and this time, it would more than likely be permanent.

"Sakura..." He started, trying to control his emotions. He took a breath, continuing. "Sakura, you're the best friend I've ever had...you've been so nice to me, even when others weren't. I'm sorry for getting grouchy yesterday." He said, searching her eyes.

She smiled a sad smile, replying with, "Well, Gaara, I understand now. I didn't know at the time you were in love with me...and your apology is accepted." She paused, continuing. "And I'm also in love with you." She admitted, knowing it to be true. Gaara almost smiled, turning his head.

"If only I had realized it sooner...and acted on those feelings..." He said sadly. "Now it's too late." Sakura shook her head, panic filling her voice.

"No, Gaara. You can't die. You just can't." She shook his shoulders slightly, causing him to look up at her.

"Sakura...I've died once before, and you saved me. This time, you saved me before I died." He said, raising a hand, and brushing her cheek with it. Sakura, realizing if she didn't hurry, he would be gone, started healing his wound.

"Sakura...there's no point. I..." He trailed off, his eyes closing as his arm fell. Sakura held in a sob, the tears falling freely down her face now.

"Oh god, Gaara, I'm in love with you. Why'd you have to die?" She asked, beating his chest with one of her hands. She laid her forehead on his, feeling his skin grow cold. She pressed her palms to his chest, focusing her chakra to use them as a defibrillator of sorts. His body convulsed with the chakra that was supposed to kick start his heart.

"Ow..." She heard come from the redhead's mouth, a smile growing on her face. "Okay...maybe I won't die today." He said, opening one of his eyes. He looked at Sakura, pulling her face down to his, kissing her. Sakura kissed back, closing her eyes as she did so.

**A/N: Aww, wasn't that sad? Well, thank you all for reading! I'll be sure to start another Naruto fic soon, but I think this one will be about Sasori, and WAY better written. **

**Everyone's Truly,**

**Kilik Saiyaku-Captain Green**

_**END**_


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